Bloodless
by Tavina
Summary: "Some women are lost in the fire. Some women are built from it." A seventeen year old is reborn as Hana Inuzuka, and the world shifts two feet to the left. No one with power stumbles through life with bloodless hands. Still, a girl has to protect her pack somehow, and if that means that I must live with the taste of blood on my tongue then so be it.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

* * *

I suppose that I had a good life. It wasn't particularly long, given that I had yet to drag myself through applying to college, but getting hit by a speeding vehicle while waiting for the bus was just a sad way to die.

Not that anyone here would know anything about that, my former existence and my former death, that is. I've always been Hana to them.

If anyone had mentioned that I wasn't Hana, my mother would throw her head back and screech with laughter before baring her teeth at them. "Whaddya mean she's not Hana? I gave birth to her."

And my little brother would probably punch them in the face. "No one talks shit about Hana-nee-san."

And I? I would have to bury my head in my hands and think about how they'd never know the actual Hana, who was probably much more like them in terms of personality.

But we were a family, Mom, Kiba, and me.

* * *

I had died on a dark and cloudy winter morning with my headphones in and a far too heavy backpack, standing too close to the edge of the driveway again. If I think about it for too long, I'd acknowledge that I had quite a few bad habits that could have easily led to my early demise.

I stood too close to the road while waiting for the bus. I walked down shady alleyways in cities by myself while out at tournaments. I ate far too much junk food for a seventeen year old girl. I had a fascinating habit of procrastinating until the last possible minute of any assignment. And I had an obsession with dark and gruesome characters that could probably kill me in their sleep like Hannibal Lecter.

It must be why I ended up here in the land where everyone, even the kids, could kill you with a sharp pointy thing with plenty of people who were dark and gruesome.

Small side note: These sorts of people are not fun in real life.

I would also acknowledge that it was increasingly unfair that I died without having the ability to slack off for half a year, but that came later after I could finally let go of my former life and my former situation.

* * *

The road was dark, and there were squealing tires and the blinding glare of headlights.

 _Ah no? I don't get to say goodbye to anyone? Sorry you had to see this, Sis. I did always joke about stepping into traffic, but it seems like traffic stepped into me instead._

I was hit, pain blossoming across my chest and down every bone. It was dark, and I fell. And there really wasn't a light at the end of this tunnel. I drifted, and I thought.

 _Surely, my brain cells are dead by now? It doesn't take long given that I was hit front and center by a speeding car._

 _Why am I still aware? Why am I thinking? Is this going to be my fate forever? Floating in a dark void?_

* * *

And then I was being squeezed and pushed. As it turns out, there's a light at the end of this tunnel after all.

My vision was blurry, but I was definitely in a hospital with giants, because no way was I picked up and carried this easily. I was seventeen. I weighed a hundred and thirty or so pounds. And I most certainly didn't speak Japanese beyond cutesy anime terms I'd learned back in middle school.

I did the only reasonable thing that anyone could do in that situation. I opened my mouth and wailed.

 _Huh, it seems as though the car didn't completely crush my lungs. Who knew?_

* * *

 **A.N.** So here it is, the sin of all fanfiction writers, a self insert. Hopefully though, it's not going to be as sinful as most.

Given that Hana isn't a part of the main cast, even though Kiba is, there are going to be some OC's in this story. If that is not your cup of tea, turn back now.

Also, life will be mildly dark as Hana's born a year before the third Shinobi war, a few months before Itachi's, and she has a teenager's self-awareness sort of, she's going to understand that she's living in a war zone. Not to mention the Kyuubi happening when she's six and the ousting of Orochimaru when she's eight and the prowling nature of Danzo among bright children does not lend itself to a beautiful world.

That said, I've been told that while Bloodless is sad sometimes, it's not overly dark as of the writing of this note.

~Tavina

Updated 1-31-2019


	2. Childhood Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.**

* * *

I am most certainly not among giants. This I determined because I accidentally wave a hand in front of my face confused by the semi-mobility of my limbs after a car crash.

It is not my long-fingered, calloused hand with neatly trimmed nails to type better essays with. It is pudgy and soft. The fingers are small and chubby, and I can't force them to open and close properly. It is a newborn baby's hand. The fact shocks me into a complete silence with nary a whisper.

 _I am a baby. I am a baby. I AM A BAB_ — _Dear lord. Where am I?_

Alas, having a baby's vision, I am unable to make out the people around me. I wouldn't be able to properly focus for at least a month or two more, if I'd remembered how much I slept correctly. Which I probably didn't, now that I thought a bit about it.

 _Alright. There's no way to tell where I am. There's not going to be one for a while. So why am I a baby?_

The only thought that I could possibly come up with is that I _had_ died and my sister had very much seen my crushed body at the bus stop. And now my consciousness has been replanted elsewhere.

But the details eluded me. I simply couldn't remember their faces or my own. Did I have blonde or black hair, were my eyes blue, green, brown, grey?

Mama had believed in a form of Buddhism, but I never claimed to or really believed in being reborn elsewhere. Hell, I didn't even believe in God. I hadn't met a god between my death, and subsequent rebirth either. Yet here I am, a baby again.

Someone must have made a cosmic error. That thought amused me, picturing the amount of punishment that poor apprentice shinigami must be enduring due to the cosmic fuck up.

I don't have a clean slate, I have a partially scrapped one.

* * *

I pass my days in the semblance of a demon baby from the deepest pit of hell. My new parents must have be exhausted by my constant screaming and crying, but I'm not in the mind frame to be considerate of them.

 _Dad. Mama. Sis._ It's almost cathartic to just scream and hope they understood that I don't want them to be upset about my death.

I love them. They are my family.

The logical part of my brain told me that technically since I died, I have a new family, new parents and everything and that I really ought to move on with my new life, and to not spend so much morbid time thinking about whether or not I was being buried, or if I was forgotten or—

It didn't help.

* * *

The first time my eyes focus enough to make out things above me, I am greeted by the sight of a dog. A big, black dog with an eye patch.

I scream.

"Oi. Be quiet."

I pause screaming for a moment. "uah?" _The dog talks?_

"Of course, I talk. Silly Hana" _I'm Hana?_

"Yes." The dog waves his tail in my direction, and I unconsciously reach for it. He pulls it away very quickly. "You're rather more aware than I thought you would be."

"Buah?" _What? I'm having a conversation?_

"Then, most puppies are more mobile than you by now with much less sense. It must be because you're a human child. The name's Kuromaru, pup. Welcome to the family." With another flick of his tail, Kuromaru moves away.

A dog with an eye patch named Kuromaru who talked. I certainly had no capacity to actually think thoughts towards dogs and be understood before. And my own name is Hana.

 _It cannot possibly be. I don't think it is, but let's wait until Mom and Dad come back to see if it's actually true_

* * *

Mom, or the woman that I assume is Mom since I'd never been able to make out anyone's face properly before, sweeps into the room somewhat later. She's wearing a green jacket.

"Kuromaru says..." I'm not paying too much attention to what Kuromaru had said as she picks me up. She has a forehead protector and two very familiar triangle tattoos on her face.

Her hair is dark brown and wild.

She has fangs which I see when she smiles.

My name is Hana.

Kuromaru must be her dog. He could talk.

"So whaddya think, Little Nose?"

So it actually is true then.

"Buah." I say and curse every god I could possibly think of. _I'm in Naruto universe? I died and now I'm fictional? How is this fair?_

Tsume Inuzuka picks me up. "I thought you'd want to meet them, too. They've just been born, same as you, and you'd want to choose your partner." _Choose my partner_ — _Hana had three dogs. What were their names again?_

I couldn't remember their names. The thing is, I hadn't been all that interested in remembering anything about the life of Hana Inuzuka back when I'd watched Naruto the first time around. She just isn't a main character. Caught between Kakashi's generation and Naruto's, there wasn't a whole lot going on with her. She's mainly just Kiba's older sister that didn't interact with anyone.

 _I'm sure I'll know soonish?_

"And here they are." Tsume sets me down inside a pen. "So, who do you like more?" I gurgle. _Hana kept all three of them in canon, right? Why'd she have three when everyone else seemed to be alright with just the one?_

"New friend!" "New friend!" "Play!" Suddenly I was surrounded by three furry faces and three wet noses. _All three of them. The Haimaru Triplets._

"Play!" "Play!" "Play!" _Can't yet._ If I could understand them, and Kuromaru. Surely they'd understand me.

 _Not very big. Play later?_

"No play?" _Play later. Names first?_

"Name?" "Name?" "Name?" They were exhausting and absolutely identical in almost every way.

 _I'm Hana._ I think, and try to figure something out, because clearly, whatever Hana had named them the first time around wasn't going to work. I have no clue what their separate names were, and now isn't the time for me to remember.

"Hana!" "Hana!" "Hana!"

 _Ichi, Ni, and San,_ I think with mild sarcasm. _What else are they besides thing one, thing two, and thing three?_

"Ichi." "Ni." "San!" _Oh no. Are they serious? Oh no._

"Ichi!" "Ni!" "San!" _They are serious._

"Alright. I think that's enough for today. You look tired, Hana." I am promptly picked up and moved back to my crib. And that, is how I broke canon just a little by naming Hana's dogs.

* * *

 **A.N.** Hello Lovely People. Thanks for favoriting following and reviewing!

Special shout out to R-Dizzle for being the first reviewer of this massive self indulgence.

I find it kind of sad that Hana's dogs are simply known as the Haimaru triplets. They don't have their own names in canon, although perhaps they've been named by fanon. At any rate, Hana has no clue what they are named, and thus they've been inadvertently named One, Two, and Three. Not much better, but still a step up from 'Hey, you there.'

Until next time!

~Tavina

Updated 1-31-2019


	3. Childhood Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: Naruto is still in possession of Kishimoto. I am still playing with his sandbox.**

* * *

In the end, I got to keep all three of them. Ichi, Ni, _and_ San. Who would still only respond to Ichi, Ni, and San personally, or Haimaru. Which is probably why I got to keep all of them now that I thought about it.

They liked me, although they found me quite strange.

"Why no eat food?" I look at Ni who was doing his best to look contrite after shredding Otou-san's shoes. _He won't be happy about that._ Otou-san is nothing like my former Dad, who doted on his daughters and found me his quite precious person, but I suppose war did make you short tempered and upset most of the time.

My new parents did not talk about the war, but they acted nothing like what I remember of Konoha shinobi during peacetime. They went on back to back missions and came back smelling like blood and hospitals. And if I am correct about being born at the same time as canon Hana, then I am just about Itachi's age. He lived through the third war, actually seeing it first hand.

To be honest, the memories of my former life were fading, I held fast to the Naruto ones despite them not really painting much of a picture of the new clan I found myself in, but innate facts that I had been so proud of knowing, such as the order of Chinese dynasties, and the chemical formula of Cryolite were just slipping my mind. _Who cares anyway?_

"Because not food." I respond, crossing my small and chubby arms across my chest. At this point, I am about two or so perhaps, I'm not entirely familiar with the passage of time given that I spend most of my time with the ninken or alone. There is a whole clan of people out there, but I'm not really old enough to visit them and for some reason or other, they don't visit me having spent so many months immobile, it is nice to be able to move around again, despite not being tall enough to reach anything of importance.

My dogs just thought that it was wonderful that I could finally play.

"But is food." Ichi appeared from around the corner with another slipper clutched in his jaws.

"Is not food." I respond. "Drop now." I didn't want to speak like a toddler despite being one, but my grasp of Japanese is still rudimentary at best. Ichi drops the slipper. San is still sitting next to me, so I pat his head. "You good. You two bad."

Ichi and Ni seem to shrink in on each other, and I smile and congratulate myself for being good at this.

"Tsume?" A woman's voice calls out from the front door, and I toddle towards her. _A relative then, she's got the same hair as Kaa-san._

"Kaa not home."

She frowns. "That Tsume. Does she think that a three year old can stay in the house by herself?"

I resist the urge to frown at this. "Not alone. Has Ichi, Ni and San." I poke in the general direction of my dogs.

She snorts. "Not enough, pup." She reaches towards me and I scoot away from her.

"Who you?"

"I'm your cousin, Ashi. Now come on, Hana." Despite making a break for it, she catches me quite quickly and pulls me out of the house. "Kimaru, watch the puppies." Her dog herds Ichi, Ni, and San behind us as she carries me through the clan compound.

It is not as disheveled as I would have expected from Kiba's-my family. I correct myself. They were my new family. That is that. There were kennels and dog houses in every yard, and the foot paths seem to be arranged to point to a central location like spokes on a wheel.

"Where go?" _Given how far our house is from the center of the clan compound, we must not be part of the Main House despite what fanon thinks._

"To my house." She'd said that she's a cousin, but that didn't tell me how she closely related she was. Everyone we passed was some sort of cousin or other.

"That Tsume's kid, you got?" A man falls in step with us on the foot path.

Ashi rolls her eyes at him."No Gaku. I have a three year old, didn't you know?"

I frown. "I two. Not three."

Gaku throws back his head and laughs. "There aren't any fangs on this one." He gestures towards my teeth and I a feel a huff coming on.

"Otou not have fangs either." _I want to talk properly. I need to talk properly._ Gaku clearly opened his mouth to say more, but Ashi punches him in the shoulder.

"Be quiet, you dumb oaf." She slides open a lacquer door and sets me down. "I'm home, Haha-ue."

"Ashi-chan, who is this?" The woman that bends down to look at me is tall and fierce, more so than Kaa-san.

"Hana. Aunty Tsume's daughter."

Ashi's mother straightens, an imperceptible frown gracing her lips. "I thought that we agreed we wouldn't visit until Tsume-chan and Kaito-san asked for help."

Ashi sets her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes. "She's three, Haha-ue, and she was left alone, at home, with three little puppies to keep her company. It's a wonder she hasn't fallen down, stabbed herself with a kunai and died yet."

Ashi's mother, whom I have christened Proper-Inuzuka-san glares back at her daughter. "My imouto has made it quite clear, that when she married that man from Iwa that we weren't to be on speaking terms."

 _Ah, what? Otou-san was from Iwa of all places? Weren't we fighting Iwa? And Proper-Inuzuka-san is Kaa-san's sister? Oh that must explain why no one ever visits._

Ashi huffs and picks me up. "I'm keeping her with me until Aunt Tsume gets back. That's it." She stomps off and from over her shoulder, I see Ichi, Ni, and San tumbling after us.

I sit around in Cousin Ashi's room and wrestle with Ni for a while. Ichi and San ask for a go, but I turn to them sternly and say, "Stop." I turn back to my cousin. She'd the same wild dark hair, and dark eyes, and the same triangle tattoos, but her face was longer and her chin more pointed. "What Iwa?" _It's best if I don't ask why Otou-san is from Iwa first. It might get awkward._

"You can speak to them?"

I tilt my head to the side. _Is that an abnormal talent?_ "Un." I nod. "What Iwa?" It is still more important trying to figure out why my father was from Iwagakure no Sato of all places when we were at war with the place. _How does active duty even work for things like that?_

"It's a different village."

 _Okay...I might be two going on nineteen, but that's just a bit simplistic._ "Why Otou-san from there?"

Ashi looked embarrassed and frustrated. "Look, he's not really from there, okay? It's a bit complicated."

I frown. _This isn't helpful at all. Should I up the cuteness level?_ I blink and lean towards her while doing my best to cry. "But why Baa-san not like me?"

I never get an answer to this, as Kaa-san breaks through the door in a whirlwind. "There you are, little nose. Stop disturbing and let's go." I'm picked up by my collar, and Kaa-san effortlessly scoops all three of the puppies off the floor as well. "Thanks for taking care of my pup, _gaki_." And Kaa-san bares all her teeth at Cousin Ashi. "But next time, ask me first."

* * *

 **A.N.** And thus the chapters get longer, and the original characters start coming, because there are about three canonically human Inuzuka characters. Ashi means paw, so I'm keeping up the Inuzuka naming conventions at the very least, and Ki means yellow, so Kimaru also befits the naming tradition of Inuzuka dogs. Hooray!

Regarding Hana's dad being from Iwa, all will be explained eventually, but normally people don't start talking to two year olds about the state of their dad's ethnicity. But he is a shinobi of Konoha. The Inuzuka just value loyalty, to the village and to the clan, so Kaito's personal background makes them a little uneasy.

Thank you so much to everyone who favorited and followed last chapter. Your support really drives my motivation to keep this thing moving along.

~Tavina


	4. Childhood Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: Do I have to keep writing about how I don't own Naruto? It makes me sad.**

* * *

Kaa-san sits me down a few days after the visiting-Cousin-Ashi Incident. "They know you can speak to the dogs, pup."

I tilt my head. _Is it really that strange? Didn't Kiba talk to Akamaru all the time?_ "I strange?" I ask, while absentmindedly petting Ichi.

Kaa-san sighs. "No. You're not strange, Hana." I nod. _That's good. I knew speaking to dogs is an Inuzuka trait._ "But you are very advanced for your age." _Oh, oh no no no. I'm still two years old._

"What Tsume means, Hana." Tou-san comes in from around the corner, his footsteps absolutely silent. "Is that you've always been rather advanced for your age."

I blink. _I have?_ Granted, I didn't know much about babies or being one in general, but surely they possessed inner lives. Surely they thought and laughed and understood. "I is strange." I say, almost to myself. _What are they going to do with the oddly advanced child? Hana wasn't anything special in canon besides the fact that she had three dogs._

"No." Kaa-san runs a hand through her hair. "But they do want to enter you into the academy early."

I pale. "Academy?" _Have I been marked out as a genius? Is this what this conversation is about? I'm two. I can barely hold a brush, much less make any hand signs. I don't even know if I want to be a ninja. Sure, being one had worked out for Hana the first time around, but this isn't a risk free occupation._

"It's a school for ninja, little nose." Kaa-san sits down on the floor, and Tou-san follows her example. "And if you become a ninja, you'll be able to protect Konoha, like Kaa-san and Tou-san." _That...wasn't wrong. If I didn't happen to be two going on nineteen it might even make sense. Unfortunately for my ninja parents, I came to them with my own set of moral codes._

"Konoha?" Don't get me wrong, Konoha is an alright place for most of canon, if one ignores the outright massacre of a clan, Danzo shiftily taking kids in a corner, the massive amounts of emotionally traumatized and combat trained ninja, both kids and adults, and the many, many times it got flattened.

"That's where we live." Tou-san adds, coming to pat me on the head. "It's our home." As much as I had wanted to ask him about Iwa before, I couldn't do it anymore. Wherever he had come from, whatever he had done to get here, he is here now, and he considers Konoha his home, and me his daughter.

"Oh." It is really all I can say to the stunning realization. _They really do love me. I'm only Hana to them, and this is the way they've always had me._ I'd spent so much time being someone else and thinking of myself as someone else that I hadn't thought that perhaps they'd only ever see me as I am to them, not an impostor or a fake, but just Hana. The thought brings tears to my eyes.

Not for the first time, I'm struck by how young my parents are. I am three going on twenty, at least mentally speaking, and Tou-san is only twenty three and Kaa-san twenty-one.

Kaa-san picks herself off the floor. "Don't worry too much about it, pup. I'm not going to force you to go to academy. I just wanted you to know that you might want to tone down how deliberate you are outside the house." She pats Tou-san's shoulder on the way out of the room. "She gets it from you, Kai-baka. I'm never this deliberate. It's best not to look before you leap."

Tou-san raises one perfectly blond eyebrow at her, and for a minute I consider him based on my memories of characters from Iwa. _He doesn't really look like it. Only Deidara was blond from what I can recall, and I'd notice if my dad had mouths on his hands. He doesn't._ If I didn't hear my aunt say that Tou-san was from Iwa, I'd never suspect it. I'd have assumed that he had Yamanaka genes with his blond hair and blue gray eyes. "You'll get yourself killed that way, Tsu-chan."

Kaa-san howls with laughter. "And dithering about will get everyone else killed, Kai-baka." It's good to see them happy together. Kaa-san and Tou-san fit together like pieces of a puzzle, and not for the first time, I wondered why Kiba thought that Tou-san had run away.

I'd no way to know until Tou-san either did or didn't run away though, so I put in the box of things to think about later.

* * *

But that conversation starts an ever pressing worry in the back of my mind. Did I actually even want to be a ninja? It went against everything I had ever known before. Killing people for money, or because they were out to kill me isn't a part of my moral code. Every fiber of my being screamed at the wrongness of some casually accepted bits of life in Konoha that as a small toddler, I could get away with avoiding. Nearly life threatening injuries are seen as no big deal, if I broke a leg Kaa-san would pick me up and bring me to a medic, but there certainly wouldn't be a fuss about it. Cuts and bruises didn't even merit a mention.

It isn't even like I'm an important character.

I'm not one of the Rookie Nine, and despite what everyone around me seems to believe-now that I've been visiting with various cousins who had oohed and ahhed over my seriousness-I'd been above average in my past life. I had gotten decent grades, but I really wasn't the most athletic person. I hadn't put hours of effort into anything besides writing fantasy novels. I hadn't even applied conscious effort in this life to be understood by my triplets or Kuromaru, they just understood me.

Yet, even though I'm not an important character, Kiba will be. I muse, as I swing my feet back and forth. Kiba will be important, not the most important of the Rookie Nine, but still quite important overall, and what's to say that the choices I make will not affect him?

Besides, despite being relatively safe most of the time, Konoha had still been flattened several times over the course of canon. Could I really survive without any ninja skills whatsoever? Could I doom the world to collapse?

What if, since I'm not a ninja, Kiba doesn't want to be one either? What would happen to team eight? What would happen to the universe?

I knew I shouldn't think about it as though I held the lynch pin of the universe. Theoretically that's the yet to be born Naruto. However, I still had some form of self preservation. Having died relatively young by lifestyle standards in my previous life, I had no desire to die again for no reason at all than simply existing in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I had to be better equipped to protect myself than the average civilian at any rate. _So I just have to survive the end of the war, which is very likely as I have no impact on that, the Sand-Sound invasion, in which I'll be eighteen or so,-and isn't it a sad thought older than when I died the first time around-Pein's flattening of Konoha, the rest of the Akatsuki, Danzo's brief reign of terror, and Madara. I hadn't watched the anime's ending, but there was something about a rabbit and the moon...but I don't even know if that is a part of the universe that I'm in, and if I survive that long I'll burn that bridge when I get to it._

The thought of Danzo brought me short though. Everything else had been external factors, but Danzo, now Danzo is extremely close to home.

He took the genius children. From what I'd remembered about Shino's brother, and Itachi, the clans were ill equipped to stop him. I couldn't even mention him to anyone else, because they wouldn't take me seriously. Who'd believe that the Honorable Elder Shimura is a kidnapper?

And I'd already been noted as a bright child who stayed home alone with only three puppies. _He wouldn't right? As an Inuzuka, I wouldn't mean much without my dogs, and I'd be too noticeable with them._

The thought is no comfort whatsoever. I have to keep a low profile.

* * *

In the end, I don't tell Tou-san and Kaa-san that I want to go to academy. Instead, I dither and learn to read and write instead. I become a rather common visitor first, in the children's section of the library, where surprise surprise, ninja stories were extremely common and depictions of ninjas as brave and heroic were also the positive norm, and then, shortly after I pass my third birthday, in the adult section as well.

I want to learn about chakra techniques. Having survived until three without even noticing chakra usage in daily life, I started questioning if I am even capable of the task. _I mean, I'm not technically Hana, or even someone whose first birth was in the same universe. What if I don't have any chakra at all?_

So after having learned how to read, I venture towards the adult section to try and find any description of chakra I could get my hands on.

Unfortunately, due to frequenting a civilian library, there's not much of anything on chakra, and most of it can be found in the fiction section.

* * *

Tou-san poofs into existence behind me on my walk back from the library one day, a few months after my third birthday. "What are you doing out here by yourself, Hana?" He doesn't sound cross with me, just vaguely amused and I am again struck by how different ninja parenting is. _If I'd run around about town when I was three in my previous life my parents would have thrown a fit._ He picks me up and balances me on a hip when I reach up for him and pout. _I am going to enjoy being carried while I still can._

"They wouldn't let Ichi, Ni, and San in. No pets." I grouse, with a fistful of Tou-san's flak jacket. Walking down the street with Tou-san had an unwelcome side effect though. Almost everywhere we went, people whispered. I suppose it isn't everyone, but the old women who would nod and wave as I trudged down the street alone went suspiciously tight-lipped and angry eyed when Tou-san is walking with me.

"Where wouldn't they let you in, Flower?" Kaa-san liked to call me Little Nose more than she liked to call me flower, but Tou-san was the exact opposite. Granted, the Kanji for my name is actually flower, so the nickname is unoriginal at best, but the man is trying. I let it be.

"The library, Tou-san." I nod angrily to myself. "No pets in the library." _There was only one chewed up book that one time._ Tou-san is spared from having to try to commiserate with me, he isn't very good at it since he doesn't understand how much the Triplets mean, not being an Inuzuka and all, but left to his own devices he'd try and fail. _I only have to be myself with them, and they'd never judge. If I think something strange or something I wouldn't know yet, they wouldn't think it strange at all._

A man with a high tail taps Tou-san on the shoulder and he whirls around. "Relax. It's only me, Kaito." I study the man curiously. He has a long face, and dark green smudges under his eyes and he is wearing the standard issue flak jacket.

I tug Tou-san's arm. "Tou-san, who this?" _He must be a Nara, there's no way that he isn't, but which Nara? He doesn't look like Shikaku, but maybe he's going through a face paint phase? He looks about the right age for it, but his hair isn't bushy either._

"This your flower, Kaito?" The man smiles languidly. "Nice to meet you, little one, I'm Ensui."

"S'good to meet you, Ensui-san." Tou-san sets me down, and Nara Ensui laughs. "A polite one, huh. She must get that from you." _Not Shikaku then. Not everyone is a main character._

"Yes, my flower is quite polite, Ensui." Tou-san pins me with a stern look. "Go straight home, okay? Konoha is too big for you still." His concern is touching, and I nod.

"Uh-huh." There'd be time to puzzle out why a Nara looked for Tou-san and seemed to be on good terms with him, later. Right now, I had to devise a way to see if I had chakra.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so we meet another character, Nara Ensui, who is surprisingly, not an OC. He shows up in Kakashi's fight at the end of the Fourth Shinobi war. What he wants with Inuzuka Kaito nearly eighteen years before that is up for debate.

I've tried to include as many background characters from the actual manga and anime as possible, to cut down on the number of original characters. Narutopedia has become my best friend and worthiest ally in this frightful endeavor.

A special thanks to my sis, for reading this story and leaving me a review. It makes me happy. Also, a shout out to everyone who's favorited and followed since the last chapter, you guys all rock, and let's keep this train rolling.

~Tavina


	5. Childhood Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: Somehow, of all things, still don't own Naruto. Who knew?**

* * *

A few months later, my small family sits down to dinner with two of my elder cousins, Gaku and Ashi. Aunt Kosshi, I have learned that this is the actual name of Proper-Inuzuka-san, has elected not to come join us.

"Kanabi bridge has been destroyed." Ashi says as she gives a piece of meat to Kimaru who is waiting under the table.

Ichi, Ni and San protest this. "Why does he get fed?"

I smirk. "Because his partner wants to feed him."

"That should speed up the war efforts then." Tou-san replies, pushing his lettuce around in his rice bowl. He'd come home injured the week before, a long gash on his right arm, and the medics hadn't cleared him for active duty yet.

And suddenly I remember the importance of Kanabi Bridge. "Who was there?" I ask, and all eyes at the table turn towards me.

"You know, pup, I haven't met another three year old who asked these sorts of questions." Cousin Ashi props her head up on the table with an elbow and looks at me almost with judgement, but I could find neither approval or disapproval in her eyes. "You're a weird one, Hana."

I frown. _Time to nip this in the bud._ "War is bad. It hurt, Tou-san." I cross my arms over my chest and stop eating. "I want to know if there're people I should thank."

Cousin Gaku throws back his head and laughs. "Now's not the time to be thankful yet, little fangless one. We've still got a long way to go."

Cousin Ashi leans back in her chair and tosses a piece of meat up for Kimaru to catch. "If you really want to thank someone, you could go thank Uchiha Obito-" and my heart catches in my mouth, because did he make it back alive this time? "-his name's going on the memorial stone, and I think he'd be the only one who'd want to listen to your thanks." And then my heart plummets into my stomach. _Oh...no...nothing changed._

"Ashi." Kaa-san says and it's with a voice of steel. "Don't talk to my daughter about this." Death in action might still be a little too heavy a conversation for a three year old. _If only they knew._

* * *

I tell Kaa-san that I'm going to the library the next morning, even though I am certainly not going to the library. She waves me off without a word, and I scurry off, the triplets in tow.

I step into the snack shop on the corner of the street outside the clan compound. "Baa-san?"

The old lady who manned the counter perked up in my presence. "Oh there you are, Hana-chan. You haven't stepped in all week, but those lemon candies that you like so much are right over there."

I humor her by buying a handful for the 'road to the library' before I ask her a question. "Baa-san, sorry to bother you, but where's the memorial stone?"

She falls silent for a moment, her world suddenly on freeze frame as if remembering someone from the distant past before she responds. "Is there something wrong at home, Hana-chan?"

I shake my head. "I just had someone I needed to thank, is all." She sighs and writes out the directions for me on the back of my receipt, with a little map to go with it. I look down, and suck in a deep breath. _That's very far away._ Still, I square my shoulders. _It's the least I can do to thank him for confirming that I'm not in an alternate timeline. And for my still living parents._

* * *

A half hour's walk later brought me closer to the stone than ever. I stop at the edge of the clearing to catch my breath, and then dragged myself the rest of the way, the Triplets following like they always do.

I scan the list of names on the smooth black stone, picking out the Inuzuka ones most clearly before I come to nearly the end of the list. _Uchiha Obito...Nohara Rin._ So Kakashi had lost both of his teammates by this point. I straighten my shoulders. _I'm only here for one thing anyway._

"Uchiha Obito-san." I bow forwards to the memorial stone. "Thank you." _For my parents. For myself. Thank you._ Then I lean forwards and place one of the lemon candies down beneath the stone. "I hope you like lemons."

I stand and motion for the Triplets to thank him as well. "Say thank you to Uchiha-san." They look at me with big dark eyes and bark in unison once. They don't understand why we're doing this, but they're loyal enough that if I think it's a good idea they won't question it until later.

There's a boy standing by the edge of the clearing when I turn to leave. _White hair, wearing a mask, and standard shinobi gear, and his left eye is covered._

"Who are you and why are you here?" _It's strange to think that Kakashi's only eleven. He's younger than me. Not that anyone can really tell._

"I'm Hana." I chirp brightly. "And I'm here to thank Uchiha Obito-san for protecting my parents."

"You're an Inuzuka." _Oh, well, of course I am. The dogs aren't for show you know._

"Yes." I reply and continue walking past him. "Like I said, I'm Hana." He appears in front of me again in a blur of movement too fast for my eyes to follow. "How do you do that?" I ask, and he looks nonplussed.

"Do what?"

I blink at him, and he blinks back. Or well, the eye that I could see blinks back. "Teleport." I cross my arms over my chest. _Someone mention chakra to me so I can conceivably talk about it. I need to know._

"It's a chakra technique." _Yes, good, a mention of chakra._ He narrows his eye at me. "Now tell me why you were here to make fun of Obito." _He's prickly. I won't be able to ask him about chakra._

Ichi growls at him, and San and Ni scamper to hide behind me. "I wasn't here to make fun of Uchiha-san." I state and walk past him again. "I was here to thank him for being a hero. That's it." He lets me go, and the only thought I spare him is that I don't really ever want to meet him again before the canon timeline starts because at least Adult Kakashi is not such a hardheaded jerk.

* * *

I trudge back home while sucking on another one of the candies. _Now how do I broach the topic of chakra without telling Tou-san and Kaa-san where I've gone?_ Just up ahead a team of chunin leapt over a roof and towards the Hokage Tower.

I make a valiant effort to not smack myself in the face. _They were probably just waiting for me to ask how ninja did magic tricks. Chakra use is literally everywhere, and I've been out and about in the world for over a year now._

San barks. "Why are you injuring yourself?"

I turn a bemused glance at him. "I was being silly."

"No, Hana not silly." Ni bumps my hand and I pat him on the head a few times. "Hana always smart."

I laugh for the first time in a long long time. "I can be silly." Ichi bumps my other hand and I pat him a few times too.

"Yes." He says, "Hana can be silly." And I growl at him, he yips and I chase him all the way home. He takes it easy on me and his younger brothers though, and slows to an easy lope by the time we reach the edge of the compound. I tackle him on the front porch and we all roll around with growls and yips and happy giggles.

* * *

"Tou-san" I whisper and tug on his sleeve when he'd finished washing up after dinner.

He looks down at me, still dripping soap suds and raises an eyebrow. "What's the matter, Blossom?" He had been going through different variations of nicknames after Kaa-san had caught him calling me Flower, and burst out into stomach aching laughter. Tou-san, for all his snappiness at times, is surprisingly sensitive.

"How do ninja do magic?"

He smiles at me. "I was wondering when you would ask about chakra." _So I was being dumb. I should have just asked._ Tou-san dries his hands on a dishtowel and sits down in a kitchen chair. "There are two types of energy that make up chakra, physical and spiritual energy."

I nod. "Do I have chakra?"

Tou-san laughs and ruffles my hair. "Of course you do, Bud. You've been using chakra since you were old enough to talk, and probably before." _That...was unexpected._

"I have?" I blink several times. I had felt no different in this life than I had in my previous one.

"Well, you talk to the dogs. That's a pretty specialized form of chakra already. The concentration of chakra in your ears to better understand their language." Now that I thought about it, I did just chalk talking to the dogs as part of the new genetic makeup I had, not to do with chakra. "Of course being an Inuzuka means that you understand them better." Tou-san shrugs. "If I concentrated, their barking is louder, not clearer."

"But I don't feel magic." I say, because I am at a loss at how to explain to my father that I remembered a previous life without chakra, and that I had never even noticed using chakra in this life.

"Well, you'll learn more about chakra if you decide to go to the academy, but it really can't hurt to meditate for a bit. Chakra's pumped around the body like blood, and like blood, it is replenished in your core." Tou-san slides off the chair and sits down on the floor with me. "Let's do a meditation exercise."

"Un." I nod.

"Close your eyes and breath. Just think about breathing alright. In, one, two, three, four. Out, one, two, three, four." I felt...something as I breathed. There is a warmth spreading through my limbs that I didn't notice before. I willed it to move around. It sort of responded, slowly like molasses or syrup sliding about.

I open my eyes. "It's all warm and fuzzy." I leap forwards and throw my arms around Tou-san's neck. "Thank you, Tou-san." I feel him smile, his day old stubble digging into my cheek.

"You found it the first time around." He pats me on the back. "Good job. I knew you could do it."

Kaa-san appears in the doorway, as Tou-san twirls me around the kitchen. "What are you two so excited about?"

I run towards her. "I found chakra, Kaa-san." I wrap my arms around her legs and giggle uproariously. "It's warm and fuzzy."

"Didn't you always have it?"

I frown up at her. "Didn't know it was magic."

Kaa-san pats me on the head. "The clan wanted to push for you to go to the academy since you were concentrating chakra in your ears." The thought brings me up short, but Kaa-san continues. "So whaddya say, Little Nose, do you want to go?"

I look up at her, and nod once. "I want to learn." What I would really do after Academy I could figure out then.

"Well, I'm not letting you end up like that Hatake kid, graduating at five and everything." Kaa-san looks across the room at Tou-san. "What do you think, Kai, letting enter after her fourth birthday."

Tou-san considers it, and then pins me with a stern glance. "You'll be smart enough to graduate in a year or two, Hana, but don't push it. You don't want to end up on the front lines and face enemies far too big for you." He sets his hands on my shoulders and looks me in the eye. "I know you're bored at home, and that you've read half the library by now. You are good. Don't let them bait you into pushing too far too fast."

I nod.

"Graduate in two or three years, Sprout. The war'll be over by then, and your missions won't be as dangerous either way. Promise me that, and we'll let you go early." What Tou-san is saying made sense.

I held out a pinky. "I promise." He smiles and loops his own pinky through mine. "I'll hold you too it."

* * *

 **A.N.** As the war isn't over yet, and won't be until a month after Hana's fourth birthday, Kaito is understandably concerned about Hana, whom he sees as his exceptionally bright daughter being pushed to become another genius to throw onto the front lines. Konoha produces and breaks many of its geniuses, even though the most infamous example, Itachi, has not yet come about.

Special shout out to CarlyPanda and Shy911 for leaving a review. I'm happy to know you like it!

Thank you everyone who favorited and followed. I'm glad to see that you're excited about my little project.

Let's keep moving forwards.

~Tavina


	6. Childhood Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: for every thing I own, there is at least a million things I do not own. Naruto belongs in the later category.**

* * *

The clear spring day that I turn four, Tou-san takes me out to the park to fly a kite. Kaa-san had attempted to bake a cake that turned out to be more than a little blackened. Thus, she'd shoved Tou-san and me out the door, with my birthday present, the aforementioned red kite, and told us to buy a cake on our way back.

Tou-san had snickered all the way out the compound and down the street, my hand in his as we walked past the river and away from the center of the village. "Do you still want to go to academy in the fall?"

I nod and swing our hands back and forth. "I want to." There were actually two starting terms in the academy, one spring, and one fall to accommodate age differences during wartime. Peace would be different. Even though everyone knew that we would at long at last beat back Kumo and Iwa, no one knew which border skirmish would be the last.

"I'm just checking." I'm about to laugh, but an old lady tries to cross the street to avoid acknowledging us with a nod or a smile, and suddenly I am angry.

"Tou-san?" I tug at his sleeve. "Why is that lady over there being rude?" I may have said so far too loudly out of spite, because she draws herself up stiffly in an angry line.

"See here you little brat-"

I narrow my eyes at her. "It's better to be a little brat than an old lady who looks like she's smelt something awful." There's a sharp intake of breath next to me and Tou-san's pushing my head down into the proper position for a bow even as he does the same.

"My apologies Obaa-san." Tou-san took me by the hand again and crossed the street. "Don't do that again, Hana." He doesn't sound angry. Just resigned and somewhat distantly sad.

"Why? They are never nice to you." And indeed, the older people of Konoha went out of their way to be rude, either gossip or silence followed him around constantly. The shinobi population is kinder, but the greetings at times, are still quite frosty.

"Yes, but-" Tou-san straightens up. "Yamanaka-san. Nara-san." He bows politely to two men. I bow as well, certain that these are actually Inoichi and Shikaku.

"No need to be so formal." Inoichi pats Tou-san on the shoulder while Shikaku crouches down to look at me. "And what is your name?"

I stare back at him, taking in the features of someone who had once been simply a character. _Since he doesn't know me, there's no need to worry that I'd surprise him in any way._ "Inuzuka Hana." I look down, a nervous habit that a second lifetime is incapable of shaking. "It's good to meet you, Nara-san."

I see Inoichi suppress a smile. "Your daughter then, Kaito-san?"

Tou-san nods.

"She's rather grown up for a child." Shikaku straightens. _Oh wouldn't you like to know._

I hold up four fingers. "Uh-huh. I turn four today." _Best to nip the idea in the bud by actually acting like a child. Seriously though. I can't wait to grow up and be taken seriously for once._

But even as I think that i know it's not true. Being a child again is actually a relief. I had been on the cusp of making adult decisions, and while I was alright with that, I hadn't felt ready. I didn't want to feel ready.

And now I am just four years old, a small child again. I could go out to fly kites with Tou-san, and it wouldn't be strange at all.

Inoichi smiles indulgently and pats me on the head. "Well you should get to it. You only turn four once, after all." He nods to Tou-san. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Kaito-san."

Tou-san nods back. "Of course, Yamanaka-san."

Not for the first time, I wonder what Tou-san actually did, he's a chunin that occasionally had field duty, but what did he do? I didn't know. He slips his hand back around mine, and I squeeze it once for comfort.

* * *

We stop by the bakery, and as an indulgence Tou-san buys two cupcakes for the road and a gigantic cake to bring back to Kaa-san. As we walk, Tou-san sighs and motions for me to sit down on a bench just outside of the clan compound. "Would you like Tsume to take you out instead?"

I tilt my head at him. "No. I like spending time with you, Tou-san."

He offers me the other cupcake and buries his face in his hands. "I forget that you're only four years old sometimes, Blossom. The amount of anger that old witch directed at you today wasn't fair."

I pat his leg. "I think that they're mean because Tou-san's better than them."

Something that sounds alarmingly like a sobbing laugh squeezes itself free of Tou-san's throat. "I moved here when I was six, when my father died." He looks at me with his head in his hands, elbows on his knees the cake next to him on the bench. "As you must have heard by now, from Iwa. Eighteen years later, and the civilians still think that I'm a foreigner." A hot flash of anger rips its way through my heart. _He's been here ever since he was a child and they still think that he's some sort of spy? He's fought for them. He's bled for them. This is his home._

"We should go out together again tomorrow." I say, wrapping both of my hands around his wrists. "I don't care that they're mad. I just want them to stop being mean to you. They're never mean when I'm alone."

Tou-san pulls me into a hug. "I don't deserve such a grown up child like you, Sprout."

There are tears in my eyes as I hug him back. _You don't know half of it, Tou-san._

* * *

One month later, Kaa-san comes home from a mission and picks me up with a war whoop. "The war's over, Little Nose. Everything's back to normal again." She's covered with dirt, grime, and shallow scratches, and Kuromaru's trailing behind her with a limp, but there's blood rushing in my ears and I couldn't hear anything properly.

For practically my entire life in Konoha, the war had been raging steadily onward. But it is over.

And Tou-san and Kaa-san were both safe. _I have to visit the memorial stone again to say thank you to Obito-san._

"Would you like a sibling?" Kaa-san's looking at me a bit nervously, and my eyebrows draw together. _It's a bit early for Kiba to have been conceived yet, right?_

"Am I getting a little brother?" I ask, and Kaa-san laughs.

"No." I frown. _I knew it was too early, but what brought this on?_ "I just wanted to know if you'd like a sister, but it looks like you're looking for a brother instead." She ruffles my short brown hair and chuckles. "It'll be a while yet before something like that happens. But the war's over, and everything's good. We'll get started on your pre-academy training soon."

* * *

The next morning, Kaa-san wakes me at the crack of dawn for a jog around the clan compound. She points out the houses and the communal places that our family rarely if ever visits, and chatters on and on even as I huff and puff away behind her. _There's really a reason why I hate running in the morning._ Thankfully, the Triplets and Kuromaru didn't come with us, otherwise they'd be teasing me mercilessly for 'lazying about in the book place' and not running enough.

Sadly, they'd be right. Kaa-san pauses after we've made it around the compound three times, and pauses to let me catch up. "Did you channel chakra to your legs?"

I pause to think about it. "I don't know." I flop down on the dusty path. "I can't really feel what it's doing unless I'm meditating or concentrating on it."

Kaa-san taps her fingers idly against her thigh; she 's never really still. "Well, we'll just have to ask Kaito to meditate with you longer. You've got a lot of spiritual energy that you've got from him, but we need to increase your physical capacity as well, otherwise you'll never have the amount of chakra you'll need for the clan techniques." And thus she passes me to Tou-san with the instructions of meditation for an hour each day.

* * *

I run along the river back to the memorial stone late that afternoon as the sun falls to a few finger's widths above the horizon, Ichi, Ni and San running beside me. A small pouch of hard candies is strapped to my thigh and they click as I run. There's always more time for practice after all, and I really needed training. I couldn't rely on freakish luck to survive.

I find Kakashi in front of the memorial stone this time. He turns to look at me as I enter the clearing and I look back at him. He's as unamused as ever, but this time he says nothing, just disappears into the trees as I come to sit in front of the memorial stone.

"Uchiha-san, the war's over." I say to the stone. "I brought you some more candy. I'm not sure which flavor you liked while you were living, so there's a little bit of everything." I lay out the handful underneath his name and smile brightly. "Thanks for protecting Kaa-san and Tou-san. They both made it." I rise and bow, as the Triplets bark once in unison.

I turn to see Kakashi standing not a foot away from me. "I need to apologize."

I stare back into his one-eyed gaze, not sure that I'd ever understand him. "What for?"

He seems almost uncomfortable as he looks away. "For thinking you were here to make fun of him the last time." He'd been prickly last time, and I hadn't wanted to meet him again, but I didn't expect him to apologize for it.

"There isn't a need." I say as I trot off down the path. He follows, two steps behind me.

"You're a strange one, Inuzuka Hana."

I look up at him and raise an eyebrow, just like Tou-san would've. "Didn't you know? I'm four going on forty this year."

He almost smiles, but it dies not a moment later. "Another genius then." The words are as bitter as pure chocolate. "Konoha likes to break those."

I cross my arms and look up at him, the Triplets arrayed around me in a mock battle line. "I'm not to be broken. Not by Konoha, and not by anything else." The words are braver than I rightly know them to be, but I didn't intend to die until I lived past at least middle age, this time.

When I march off again, he doesn't follow.

* * *

Tou-san drags me along towards the center of the city a week later. He says it's to see a friend, but Tou-san has so few friends I am almost taken aback at the thought until we arrive at the Nara Compound. We slip inside, and he takes me towards a house near the forest. Despite it being past noon, it takes three minutes for the door to creak open after Tou-san knocks.

"Some of us would like to sleep now, you know." Ensui-san blinks blearily against the brightness of the sun and steps aside to let us enter.

"You weren't asleep. You were out at the bar yesterday despite what I told you about those places, and now you're hung over and cursing the world." I'd never heard Tou-san so casual with anyone besides Kaa-san before. _So Ensui-san and Tou-san are actually friends._

"Just tell me why you're here." Ensui-san groans. "And please don't be loud about it."

Tou-san smirks. "Your romancing's not working out?"

Ensui-san shoots him a poisonous glare and sets a kettle to boil on the stove. "She's a troublesome woman." The words were so similar to Shikaku and Shikamaru that it was almost eerie. _I wonder if Ensui-san gets married?_

"But enough of your love life, I'm here to talk to you about Hana." Tou-san gestures towards me, and Ensui-san glances in my direction.

"Eh, what about your Sprout?"

Tou-san pulls the kettle off the stove and a few tea bags out of the cupboard in the corner. "She's got a lot of spiritual energy. I was wondering if your clan has the experience to figure out how to up the physical portion." Ensui-san sits up straight for the first time since we'd walked in.

"So it's a training puzzle we're looking at?" Tou-san hands him a cup of tea and Ensui-san looks at him with mock disapproval. "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

* * *

 **A.N.** And steadily we chug along, chug along, chug along, steadily we chug along, all through the day.

Thanks for the review, Sis. Your coordination during planning sessions for this fic are much appreciated.

Thank you to everyone who has favorited and followed. Your support makes me happy.

~Tavina.


	7. Academy Arc: One

**Disclaimer: Everytime I say that I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto makes more money off of it. I don't own Naruto, and I'm broke.**

* * *

Day dawns over Konoha as the sun bleeds a dizzying shade of red on the first of September when I rise to do my morning run with the Triplets. Ichi's longer legs carry him in an easy lope beside me and San and Ni fan out behind, Ni whining all the while. I measure seven laps around the compound before I have to sit down on the porch steps. I wander back into the house. In my room, I change into a mesh shirt and a tan kimono shirt. The clan symbol isn't painting a giant target on my back, instead it's stitched to the left shoulder, while the Uzushio spiral is stitched to the right. I pick up my bag and then walk down the hallway following the smell of food into the kitchen.

Tou-san stands grilling fish in one corner, while Kaa-san ladles out some miso soup. "Good morning."

I nod. "Good morning." I set out the bowls and the chopsticks scooping extra rice into the Triplets' bowls. They were going to have to sit extra still for a long time today, and they'd gotten rather large by now. "

There's a bento on the counter." Kaa-san waves in its general direction and I scoop it up, setting it carefully in my bag. I already had food for Ichi, Ni and San stowed away, but lunch for myself was important as well.

"It's a big day today, isn't it." Tou-san smiles, and it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "It seems like just yesterday we came back from the hospital together, all three of us."

I smile back at him. "Un." We dig in.

* * *

As we head down the path towards the Academy and a short orientation, I walked on ahead with the Triplets and Tou-san and Kaa-san walked behind at a more sedate pace. It was true that I was bored at home. There was only so long one could meditate, or reread the library books, or run around the clan compound. There weren't many people that I enjoyed talking to, and I couldn't possibly go talk to the memorial stone all that often.

For one thing, there was no need to be Kakashi version 2.0, for another...it's a little strange to speak to a rock simply because you didn't know who else to talk to.

Tou-san kisses me goodbye on the forehead at the door of the auditorium while Kaa-san ruffles up my hair. "Go knock them all out of the park, Little Nose."

I smile. "Un!"

Tou-san's words are a little more serious. "Remember our pinky promise. No impressing them so much that they push you into graduating in a year."

I nod, and Kaa-san starts to drag him away. "Oh come on, Kai-baka. She knows that already. Smarter than you think, much more than you perceive and all that."

I laugh and Ni perks up. "More fun friends to play with?"

I laugh. "I thought you only needed me and your brothers to play with."

Ichi bumps him. "You be quiet." I stifled a laugh and push open the doors to the auditorium. _Well, there's only one way to go now, forwards._

Most people were older, nearly seven or eight, but I slide onto a bench in the back, pressed up against the wall, and the Triplets squeeze in after me. I am early, which is a relief.

There's a Hyuuga boy stepping into the room, and he scans the room, white eyes flicking back and forth. There won't be another main branch member born in another year or so, and I concluded that he was branch without glancing at his forehead, which would have been rude. "Might I sit with you?"

I move over, and San yelps and falls off of the bench, he wriggles over and curls up on top of my feet instead. "You may, if you don't mind the Triplets." I respond. His eyes widen for just a fraction. _Did he not expect me to say yes?_

But he sits down. "Hyuga Tokuma." He offers me a hand and I shake it.

Ni scrambles over to sit on his feet. "I want to sit with the new friend."

"Inuzuka Hana." Tokuma looks like he's about to say more, but an Aburame boy comes in next, his sunglasses are tinted purple and he's wearing a tan jacket and walks in our direction.

"I conclude you two must be my genin teammates after graduation. Therefore would it be possible to sit with you?" _We're thinking that far ahead?_

I offer him a hand. "I'm Hana."

He smiles. "I'm Muta." Then he turns towards my seatmate. "And you are?"

"Tokuma." My seatmate leans forward. "Why do you think we'll be your teammates?"

"It is simple." Muta gestures towards our clothes. "We are all wearing tan, and everyone knows that our clans have the strongest tracking abilities."

Tokuma cracks a smile. "So you think it's that rigged?"

I think it over. In canon, while not acknowledged to be rigged, everyone knew that Team Ten was infiltration, Team Seven was Frontline, and Team Eight was tracking. _So we're slated to become this graduating class's Team Eight?_ "So if it's really rigged," I say softly and almost to myself. "Do you suppose they'll want to call us Team Tan?" We look at each other for a startled second and all break out into laughter all at once.

Muta slides onto the bench on the other side of Tokuma. We were pressed tightly together now, like sardines in a can.

Ichi gives me a long suffering look and hops off the bench and wanders over to Muta. "I suppose I should sit with our new almost-packmate. Both of them are older than you, but it'll have to do until we figure out the hierarchy." He promptly flops down on Muta's feet.

"Thanks, Ichi."

Tokuma raises an eyebrow at me. "You barked."

I raise an eyebrow right back at him. "I barked."

There's a throat cleared at the front of the room. "Attention everyone, I'll read the class postings, and then we'll move right along."

* * *

As it turns out, there was something I'd forgotten. Hana had been in Itachi's class in canon, and it seems entering Academy early did nothing to shake that. _I must have missed him walking in since I was talking with Muta and Tokuma._

"That's the Uchiha Heir over there." There's an edge of bitterness in Tokuma's words and I turn to look at him.

"I know. I was just wondering why he was in our class and what sort of team he's destined for."

Tokuma raises an eyebrow. "You're not going to say something about how he looks cute?"

I frown at him, tilting my head back so I could look down at him, "Why would I care about that?" Muta chuckles.

Sensei walks to the front of the room and asks us to introduce ourselves.

"Aburame Muta, I want to enter the Intel division after I graduate to chunin."

"Hyuga Tokuma, I want to become an adept jonin, and serve Konoha and the clan."

"Inuzuka Hana, I want to..." I pause. "Be the best partner I can for the Triplets and make my parents proud of me." What else could I have said? _I want to survive the fourth shinobi war? I want to die well after my middle age this time around?_

"Uchiha Itachi." His quiet voice breaks me out of my thoughts. "I want to be the youngest Uchiha to join ANBU." Of course the resident genius is the one with the most ambitious dream. Of course it is.

"Uchiha Izumi!" I turn to look at the brown haired girl in a corner. "My dream is to be the world's greatest konoichi." _She's...I don't remember her at all._ That didn't mean much of anything though, there was an entire world of people that were either never mentioned, or I didn't remember that were incredibly important.

She could have no effect on anything, or she could effect everything. Who knows?

* * *

We start by learning how to read and write our names, which, given that I had mastered these skills to some extent a year and a half ago by myself...is a let down.

"Ah, Hana-kun, you've already learned this at home right?" Funeno-sensei beams at me, and I smile politely back at him still sandwiched between Tokuma and Muta.

"Un, Tou-san spent a lot of time on it." Best let them believe that, than to think that I learned how to read and write by myself at the public library.

The next 'test' for us is to run around the academy building. I keep easy pace besides the flagging Muta until Funeno-sensei barks at me to hurry up. A flash of annoyance dances across my heart and I take off, the Triplets trailing in my wake as I finish ten laps around the school building far too quickly for my own good.

The only other person yet crazy enough to be at the finish line is Itachi. _Oh no. Please go away. I don't want to talk to you._ Despite not remembering the miscellaneous details about him, there was one big, big thing that could not be forgotten no matter how many years ago it was that I'd watched Naruto. Uchiha Itachi agreed to kill his own family members, and spared only his little brother whom he then tormented to become half insane as a form of love.

I wanted to be nowhere close to him, but unfortunately, there's no reason for me to be impolite to him.

"You could have finished more quickly than you did, but you stopped to run with Aburame. Why?" Trying to hold a conversation with him makes a shiver crawl down my spine.

"I like Muta-kun, and he needed the encouragement." I can't quite look him in the eye as I answer, and Ichi bumps my hand with his head.

"What's wrong?" I look down at him.

"I'm not sure I like him."

Itachi looks mildly unnerved. "Do you actually understand him?"

My eyes narrow. "Ichi's one of my partners. Of course, I understand him." Besides me, the Triplets growl in unison. Before the tension between us can climb to snapping, Funeno-sensei calls a break for lunch. I had never been more relieved in my life to walk inside, collect my bento, and plop myself down between Tokuma and Muta.

"What did Uchiha-san want with you?" Muta asks.

I frown and spear a rice ball with my chopsticks. I chew the thing aggressively before I respond to Muta's query. "He wanted to know if I could actually speak to the Triplets."

Tokuma's lips tighten. "Isn't that a stupid question?"

I prod his shoulder. "Of course it is." We sit in companionable silence for the rest of lunch broken only by the sound of blissful food intake.

* * *

Kaa-san's there to pick me up in the afternoon, and while I'm happy that she's there, I'm also confused. _Kaa-san works in tracking, and normally she's not in the village when she's on a job. Tou-san's the one who's home in the afternoons._

"I thought you'd be out of the village right now?" I ask, as I slip my hand in hers.

Kaa-san just laughs. "So you remember when I asked if you wanted a sibling, Little Nose?"

I nod. "Well, it's entirely possible that you'll get one in the very near future. I'm going to be on leave until your brother or sister is born." _Kiba. This should be Kiba._

I smile brightly at her. "I'm going to have so much to tell my brother."

Kaa-san ruffles my hair. "I'm going to laugh at you if you get a sister instead, Hana." _Oh, I don't think you'll have to laugh about that Kaa-san._ "At any rate, how did your first day of Academy go?" She has a far away look in her eyes. "I know that I punched Hyuga Hizashi across the room for being stupid." _That...sounds like Kaa-san._

"I met Uchiha Itachi." I say not quite frowning but getting there. "I don't think I like him, he's..." I think back to him asking me why I didn't abandon Muta and how he was genuinely confused. "He's stuffy." I say, and Kaa-san howls with laughter. A few civilians back away from my wild looking mother.

"Oh boy, you think the little Uchihas are bad?" She bends down to look me dead in the eye. "I'll tell you a secret: the big ones are worse." We share a smile, and walk the rest of the way home.

* * *

That night Tou-san comes back with an injury to one of his legs. It's only a gash so he doesn't go to the hospital, and we don't force him to. Instead, I sit with him as he bandages his left leg and chatter brightly about my day.

"And then Sensei yelled at me to hurry up and I got a little bit angry so I ran much faster."

Tou-san looks at me with a bemused expression. "There's something you aren't telling me about all this Sprout."

I look down at the table and wriggle uncomfortably. "Well...I was the second one to finish after that."

Tou-san sighs. "Well, at least you weren't the first." I look up at him hopefully. "Who was the first?"

I cross my arms and look away. "Uchiha Itachi."

Tou-san nods. "The Uchiha Clan Heir. It could have been worse. Well, try to stay under the radar, Hana."

I nod and proceed to tell him about how Muta had shown me his kikaichu and that was so cool and then Tokuma was upset because he didn't have a partner and oh, there were just so many things.

Tou-san nods along with me, making comments at the right places and smiling all the while. "I'll look forward to watching your progress, Sprout."

I laugh. "Of course, I'll make both of you proud of me!"

* * *

 **A.N.** And thus starts the journey of Academy days. We've finished the childhood arc everyone! Hooray!

Thanks so much for leaving a review, CarlyPanda. If anyone else is questioning, relationships are a long way off, and I don't think it's anything anyone has suspected so far. To everyone who has followed and favorited, you all are great.

Let's keep this going guys.

~Tavina


	8. Academy Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: Must I keep writing that Naruto is not mine and I make no money from it?**

* * *

Slowly, the months pass and I strike up an easy friendship with Muta and Tokuma. I continue to avoid Itachi, and it seems that he's almost confused by my refusal to spend time with him.

I never let Funeno-sensei goad me into showing off again. I can't afford it. _I made Tou-san a promise. I won't break it._

There were whispers that the graduation exam was open to all academy students, that anyone could take it. I kept away from thinking of it.

"Move over Haimaru." Tokuma prodded Ni. "I need to sit down."

Ni sends him an unimpressed look and whines. "He's starting to presume."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Are you going to let him?"

Muta slips onto the bench next to me. "Are you going to enter the graduation exams?"

I stick my tongue out at him. "I wouldn't pass anyway and everyone knows that."

Tokuma leans forwards on the desk, head resting on his arms in a languid position. I had never seen a Hyuga with bad posture before him, but then, no ones met a serious motivated Inuzuka before meeting me either. "Well, why wouldn't you? You know practically everything the test is asking for anyway." He's looking at me with serious intent in his pupil less white eyes, and I remind myself that I'm used to how well he can see even without the Byakugan despite looking blind.

"I don't know any of the academy three, and the practical tests that. I know I could probably pass the written exam, but what would be the point of that?" I shrug. "Just because I pass the test doesn't mean that I'd be ready for life as a genin." I crumple onto the table next to him as Muta watches us with a minuscule amount of facial expression that means he is pleased. "Are you ready to kill someone?" I ask, and watch as the gears in both their heads start turning. "I know I'm not. That's what it means to have good judgement."

I catch Itachi's gaze out of the corner of my eye and I stare determinedly ahead. He'd started sitting in the desk beside us. Tokuma glared at him whenever he sat down, and sometimes just for breathing. Muta just sat around with a mildly blank face that actually meant he was frightfully irritated, and I did my best to ignore him whenever he did something that is supposed to merit attention.

It is a terrible way to treat a child, but I couldn't forget what sort of child he was. What he would grow up to be overshadowed my entire being while near him. _If he can be persuaded to murder his family, who else could he be persuaded to murder?_

Ironic I know, given that I am training to be a killer, but I couldn't help it. _I want to live. I want to live. I want to live._

* * *

We start katas a week later. In my past childhood, I had taken three months lessons on open handed combat, but it was a lifetime ago, and I could barely figure out why I'd needed to hurt anyone to begin with. I gave up on practicing any of the forms after six months, and declared them completely forgotten by a year later.

Not so in this life. In this life, I took to taijutsu training with vengeance. As an Inuzuka, I couldn't slack on the physical aspect of fighting. I couldn't pass on adding more physical energy to my chakra stores either. I still had chakra far too slanted towards Yin techniques to use the Inuzuka techniques, and I wanted to use those. Those were frightfully effective and I needed them.

Practicing footwork brought back a hidden memory of holding a tennis ball between my knees trying to get into the most stable posture for an extended fight, knees bent, feet shoulder width apart and turned twenty degrees inwards. The triangle is the most stable shape, but the pyramid is the most stable form.

It isn't the same form as the academy, whatever I'd thrown the towel on beforehand, but nevertheless, I practiced footwork and stance position trying to remember every detail of how to break bones, how to use the enemy's momentum against them. Clearly, the memories were not as forgotten as I thought as I still remembered some, mainly how to punch, and the directive to protect the core of the body.

I try not to stand out with taijutsu sparing in the academy though. Izumi went after sparing sessions with gusto, and nearly every match I had against her I made sure to put up a good fight, but not strike a decisive blow. It pushed her to second in the class despite my impressive written exam scores. Danzo wasn't looking for impressive brain power though, he was looking for impressive fighting skills.

Right now, I am just a paper ninja, and that suited me just fine.

I had taken to haunting a training ground close to the compound to practice punches and kicks as the sun went down after leaving the academy for the day, though. Just because I wanted to appear a certain way didn't mean I actually wanted to be it.

* * *

Itachi appears one day before my fifth birthday as I stretch. "You don't know just the Academy style."

I glance up at him halfway through putting an ear on my right knee. The Triplets are gone on a trip around the village with Kuromaru, and I am perfectly alone. "You're no different."

He frowns at this, barely perceptible, but a few months of reading Muta's facial expressions had made Itachi's rather easy to crack. He is confused and displeased, not offended, but unhappy somehow. "You don't push yourself during class anymore."

I switch sides and lean towards my left knee instead, holding my toes with my hand. "Unlike you, I don't want to end up dead before the age of twenty five." The words are cruel, and I want to take them back as soon as they leave my mouth. His face crumples, and I remember. _He's only four, nearly five years old._

"Why don't you like me?" He's not crying, even at almost five Uchiha Itachi has too much dignity to cry because someone was rude to him. "You're nice to everyone else. Why don't you even act like you like me?" The words feel like he's kunai-ed me in the gut.

 _He's done nothing yet. He's done nothing, and I've still been doing my best to go out of my way to ignore him._

"The first day of academy," I sit up properly to look him in the eye. "Why did you say I should leave Muta-kun behind?"

"I didn't really mean leave him behind." Itachi scuffs a clump of dirt with his shoe. "It just wasn't helping anyone for you to run at his pace when you could be faster." I frown.

"I _was_ helping him." I gesture towards the training field around us. "Everyone needs someone to run with even if that means slowing down or working harder." It is bigger than that though. It's the idea that everyone working together is better than working alone.

"But sometimes people need to learn by themselves." Itachi sits down. "You're learning by yourself right now."

"Not when they could have someone else learn with them." I rise and bend down to press the palms of my hands down on the ground. "I'm only doing this alone because there isn't a cousin to train with me."

"Your clan won't help you?"

I blink at him, and he blinks back utterly confused. _Oh you don't know half of it._ "It's not really your business." I shrug, or try to despite having both my hands on the ground. "Besides, you've got plenty of people willing to like you, you've won ever everyone else in the class. Why do you need me to like you?"

"I haven't Hyuga or Aburame's good opinion either." Itachi starts stretching as well. "I won't ever have Hyuga's."

"But why?" I ask, suddenly frustrated. "Why would my bad opinion of you cause you such grief that you'd seek me out after months and confront me about it? You aren't doing this with Muta-kun."

"Because you're important." I sit down hard out of shock. _What? I'm important? I'm a-oh wait, I'm a human being, not a character._ "You could so easily be second in the class but you let Izumi take it, whenever you two spar, you just seem to let her win. I don't know why you take some things so seriously and others not at all."

"Is an academy spar really that important though?" I straighten up, gather my bag and wait for him as he decides whether or not he wants to walk with me. "It's not a battlefield when we're all fighting for a common goal." He seems to be pondering what I'm saying, even as he trots off into the distance to wherever he was going.

* * *

When I get home the house is dark and empty. Which wouldn't have been strange during the war, but Kaa-san is normally at home now, wearing maternity clothes and pacing about like a caged lion.

The fact that the house is empty and there are still dishes in the sink with food left out on the table for the flies to crawl over opens up a gaping maw in my stomach.

I sprint down the path towards Cousin Ashi's house. "Kosshi-obaa-san?" I call as I rap on the door trying desperately not to simply pound the door down.

My aunt pulls open the door. "What's the-" Her eyes widen. "You must not know yet, come in." She steps aside to let me into the house, her voice surprisingly gentle.

The mouth eating my insides grows bigger. "Obaa-san. What's happened?"

Aunt Kosshi sits me in a chair by the kitchen table and pours me a cup of tea. "Your Otou-san is in the hospital, Hana-chan."

I feel the blood drain out of my face. "What?"

Aunt Kosshi pats me on the shoulder. "He was in a bit of an accident at R'n'D. He will be fine, don't you worry." It had to be worse that she's making it out to be. All her awkward attempts to make me comfortable, I am lost in thought.

The sob breaks its way free without any conscious thought of mine. I feel the world shake more than my shoulders. _I thought when the war was over that everyone would be safe. I thought it would be safe._

* * *

Cousin Gaku peers into the room some time later. "Oh, she's back now?" Aunt Kosshi shoots him a glare and he holds both his hands up in a symbol of surrender. "I was just told to take Hana to the hospital."

I leap at him. "Now." I whisper, and he picks me up. The last thing I see as we move is pity in his dark brown eyes.

I'm too far gone to care.

* * *

He's still holding me as we barrel through the air towards the hospital with shushin, doesn't put me down as we speed through the lobby and up the stairs, doesn't stop for the horrified nurses, and only slows down when he frees one hand to knock on the door.

Kaa-san opens it and I can see tear tracks streaking her mascara, can see the gray tinge to her cheeks.

 _It is bad then. Very very bad._

"Thank you, Gaku."

He sets me down and doesn't look Kaa-san in the eye. "It was the least I could do, Obaa-san." He steps out of the room. I don't look towards the bed, but I can hear the beeping of the monitors, and I'm overcome with fear. My tongue is glued to the top of my mouth and my throat has collapsed in on itself.

"Look at me, Hana." Kaa-san brushes the bangs out of my face. "K-kai wants to talk to you. He's been asking for you all afternoon."

"What happened?" I ask through the sudden blockage of my throat. "Why is Tou-san here?"

"There was an accident in RnD." Kaa-san holds my shoulders and kneels on the floor in front of me. "The medics said that h-he won't make it."

I slowly turn towards the bed. There's a mountain of white, and I can see nothing really. I'm not sure if I want to see anything at all. I want to run away crying all the way down the river, and then perhaps I'd be able to come back to Tou-san humming a song in the kitchen as he cooks dinner, or drag him out to play with me in the park or something.

With monumental effort, I pick up one foot, and then the other. Each step feels like walking upstream and being drown by the river all at once. I'm breathing air so thick it feels like water and the beat of my own heart sounds like roaring in my ears.

I climb onto the chair beside the bed. "T-tou-san?" I whisper. His eyes are closed, and his lips are tinged with blue. Blood's drying on his face, and there's red splashed everywhere on the sheet covering him now that I can see it clearly. _He's dying. And you can do nothing. Your future knowledge said nothing about this, did it?_ I tune out the voice in my head and breath out. "Tou-san? It's Hana." I say again a bit louder and his eyelids flutter open.

"Blos-" His voice cracks on the second syllable and I do not cry although I blink back tears. I breath in. I breath out. He raises a hand to cup my face and I hold it there when it's clear that he won't be able to do it himself. "The se-" He takes another breath. "The second drawer of the dresser." There's a litany of screams pounding down the walls I've erected, and nothing I try can hold them back. _Your fault. Your fault. Your FAULT-_

I nod.

Despite everything, Tou-san smiles. "I'm proud." Kaa-san's sitting on the other side of his bed looking at us with eyes filled with tears. "Proud of you, Sprout."

My lips pull into the biggest smile that they've ever made in this life, and I lose my battle with the tears. "Don't go." I whisper. "Don't, Tou-san."

His hand slips away from my cheek but I hold onto it stubbornly even as it drops back onto the sheet. "Sor-" He breaks into a coughing fit that shakes his entire frame and his eyes slide shut. "So sorry, Hana, Tsu-chan."

We sit there, one on each side of his deathbed as the night stretches out before us, as the nurses try to persuade us to rest, as the beeping stops and his hands turn cold.

And then in the wake the sun rising on my fifth year in Konoha, I throw my head back and howl like the five year old I truly was at heart and in body.

* * *

 **A.N.** *Hides from the readers with pitchforks.* I did say that this was fairly dark...even if it hasn't seemed so for quite a bit, but we are truly diving off the deep end of the pool now.

Thanks for reviewing and not giving spoilers, Sis! And for everyone who read, favorited and followed, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

You all are truly fabulous.

~Tavina


	9. Academy Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I own nothing about Naruto. Hana is a character created by Kishimoto, and I am playing with her fate. Thus is life.**

* * *

The day of the funeral is like every other day in the world. The sun is shining. The grass is green, and fluffy white clouds roll in the sky like balls of cotton.

Tou-san's buried in the clan cemetery, Aunt Kosshi finally repentant. She's finally his sister-in-law when it's just too late to matter, and too late to care. I do not care. I am too tired to cry, much less to care.

It feels like I've been ripped in two anyway, and hurt worse that being crushed by a car.

I wish the sky is crying, weeping, heavy with a sense of loss, but as the ceremony goes on, the sun burns away the clouds so that nothing remains. There's just dull heat and aching eyes as I hold Kaa-san's hand.

She doesn't cry either, having spent all her tears in the hospital room. When it's over, we leave, stumbling over our own feet back to the empty house where no one will ever cook again.

 _It hurts too much to think._ I crawl into bed and close my eyes, and there I stay, for a week or more with the Triplets snuggled up beside me, all wrapped up in their own grief, until Tokuma and Muta come knocking on my door.

* * *

I get up just long enough to say that I'm fine, that I'd rather be alone. Sorry.

And then I crawl back to my room and try to ignore the photographs that I can't bear to look at and the memories that seem more like a swamp.

 _I had thought we were safe. How wrong I was. How young and stupid and naive._

 _You little fool._

* * *

It doesn't stop them from coming back again and again, dropping off homework, seeing the Triplets, attempting to talk to me. Their eyes are haunted, probably because of the death of someone they'd vaguely knew existed in the line of duty, despite that duty not being fighting heroically on the front lines.

"Are you sure you're okay, Hana-chan?" Tokuma had to be the most atypical Hyuga I knew of, besides the as of yet not born Hinata. He is kind, and had bad posture and hadn't been overtly formal after a few days.

"We want you to know that we're still here." Muta pushes his purple tinted sunglasses back up his nose. "We're friends and future teammates." On the other hand, Muta is almost the stereotype of his clan, calm, polite, inscrutable, and more than a little weird.

I smile weakly. "I'm fine." Neither of them look convinced in the slightest, but they stay for another half hour, just sitting around and then they leave again.

That night I dream of their deaths because I am not enough. Because I had frozen on a mission. I see Tokuma falling with his throat slit eyes truly blank an unseeing for the first time, devoid of all life. I see Muta roasted alive and I hear both the screams of my friend and of his kikaichu. I see the Triplets impaled by swords. I see Kaa-san lying face down, blood blossoming over her back.

 _It's all your fault. It's all your fault. No one died the last time around, because it was Hana. It wasn't you._

I wake up screaming, chest heaving, heart pounding, but I do not cry.

* * *

"Did you want to go to the Academy today, Little Nose?" To Kaa-san's credit she reacts nothing like me. Oh, the pain must be there for her too, my equal if not worse, but she's still standing tall. Eight months pregnant, a widow with a depressed child, and Kaa-san stands with shoulders straight and head thrown back as proud and unbending as a mountain.

For the first time, I wonder if it should have been her example I was supposed to be following in this life.

But to go back to academy is to say that I still wanted to be a ninja. I didn't know what I want. So I shake my head and shove more plain white rice into my mouth. "I want to go visit the memorial stone."

A flicker of concern flashes through Kaa-san's eyes and she holds my hand from across the table. "Hana-chan..." She begins, and it's clear that she doesn't want to complete the sentence. "He won't be on there, you know that."

 _One last injustice for Tou-san,_ I think, _even in death, they're not done mocking him._ "I know." I whisper back. "I just have a friend I want to see there is all, from sometime happier." I really ought not to call Uchiha Obito a friend, but it's better than the nothing that I've been doing for so long.

The Triplets don't come with me this time, and I buy the customary hard candies from Obaa-san without a word, just point and pay. _It's horribly rude,_ a part of my brain whispers. _I don't care anymore_ , another part whispers back.

* * *

I sit down and rest my head against the monument this time, and feel my eyes fill with tears as I arrange the handful of candies in a floral pattern. Too abruptly, Tou-san's fond whisper of Blossom had crossed my mind and made it hard to think.

"Uchiha-san." I whisper. "I don't know if I want to be a ninja anymore." The truth is, I don't know if I want to be anything anymore. I had never lost anyone I cared about because they'd died before.

Life as a ninja wasn't just about my own death anymore. There were so many people that I'd meet that I'd never meet again just because statistically they'd die.

"Tou-san's dead." I laugh. "But then, so are you and his name isn't here." I pause and feel the summer breeze ruffle through the clearing. "There was an accident in RnD and Tou-san didn't make it." I sniff, and for the first time in over two months I am crying again. "I don't know what to do."

* * *

"You shouldn't be a ninja if death affects you this much." I turn to glare in the direction behind me. _Kakashi, of course._ "If seeing someone whom you love die makes you incapable of moving on you shouldn't be a shinobi."

"You're one to talk." The words pop out of my mouth before I could stop them. "You're here more often than me, and for what? People you don't want to forget? What's wrong with having doubts?"

"I am guilty for their deaths, I admit to that." Kakashi looks back at me, his face unreadable. "But I have never thought that I shouldn't be a shinobi."

My face flushes. _Of course he listens to everything you say when you're here. Why did you even come?_

I clench my fists. "It's not your problem." He turns on his heel.

"No, of course it isn't, but at least you're alive right now." _He'd been concerned?_ The thought is so out of left field that I can say absolutely nothing as his slouched form disappears from the clearing.

* * *

I'm at the hospital again listening to Kaa-san scream and curse in the next room. Cousin Gaku and Cousin Ashi sit beside me, squishing me between them.

Cousin Gaku has an arm wrapped around my shoulders. "We were here for your birth too, you know." He's speaking in a meandering, monotonous sort of way. "But then, your birth was really easy, all the staff said so. You screamed loud enough for all of us to want to cover our ears, but Kaito-san was too overjoyed to care." The mention of Tou-san hurt a little less than before. My anger at Kakashi's words had covered some of the hurt. "He really loved children, you know. And he tried to be nice to us."

Cousin Ashi sighed. "But then Haha-ue didn't want us to go and see you much afterwards, so we only really saw you again after your baby phase." She runs a hand through her sweat soaked hair. "It won't happen again with another cousin. I won't let it, even if Haha-ue forbids it."

"Heavens know we didn't spend enough time with you, you don't even really know us." _Is that really what they think?_ I look at Cousin Gaku, he's really just a teenager, back when I was born he'd been a child. Of course he'd listened to his mother. And Cousin Ashi, despite how maturely she acted when we'd met the first time, she hadn't been much older than Gaku.

"You don't have to be guilty." I pat his arm. "Just be nicer to Kiba."

He huffs. "I've learned my lesson."

* * *

"Hana-chan, your brother and your mother's ready to see you." I slide off the bench and walk through the door with my spine straight. _Tou-san would have been happy to greet his son. Just like he was happy to greet me._ I lift my chin and step towards the hospital bed and Kaa-san with her arms around a small wrapped form.

"You got your brother after all, Little Nose." Kaa-san looks exhausted, her hair plastered to her face with sweat, and no makeup, but she also looks triumphant. "So what are we naming him?"

I look up at her. "You didn't pick a name?"

Suddenly she's smaller and frailer. "Kai-baka picked your name." _Oh. Oh. He did?_

Well, I knew what my brother's name is. I'd known it since I first known where I was.

"Kiba." I say and push back the blanket to look at his face. "His name is Kiba." He's quiet, resting now and so much quieter than I knew I'd been when I was a newborn. His hand is clenched in a baby-ish fist and I'm suddenly struck by the thought that I would not see him die.

 _No. I'll become strong enough to protect him. I have to make sure that he's not hurt. Not now, not ever._

"Kiba huh." Kaa-san leans back on her pillows. "Kiba it is."

"Kaa-san?" I ask, and she turns to look at me. "Can I go back to the academy?"

* * *

 **A.N.** And so there we have it. Grief and overcoming grief. Hana style.

Thanks for reviewing Carly Panda!

And to everyone who followed and favorited!

~Tavina.


	10. Academy Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: Tavina does not own Naruto. Tavina is writing free fanfiction on the Internet.**

* * *

I wake to the darkness on the night October 9th to Kaa-san throwing on clothes and shoving me, Kiba and the Triplets out the door towards the mountain. "What's happening?" I knew what was supposed to happen on the tenth, but this was too early.

 _Naruto isn't supposed to be born until tomorrow night, right?_

"There's a village wide alarm." Kaa-san brushes my bangs out of my face. "Take care of Kiba, Little Nose." _Am I starting to forget things that I remember from canon? I cannot possibly have affected this._

I clutch a wailing Kiba, and take one last look at Kaa-san before I race out the door. The wave of negative energy brings me to my knees and Kiba goes silent. For a sickening moment I think he's dead, but I look down, and his eyes are still open, and he's gasping for air. _He needs me to take him to the mountain._ The emergency safe shelters were built into the mountain, but as I stare down the street I nearly lose hope.

 _Can I even walk that far?_ The Kyuubi's chakra bleeds red in the distance, but even from half a city away I feel it's malevolent energy, like I'm breathing air so thick it might be molasses. All around me, people screamed and collapsed where they stood.

Ichi nudges my elbow. "Please?"

I look at the Triplets, and then back at Kiba. I stagger to my feet. _You promised your brother you'd protect him. He needs you now, Sprout._ The whispering in my head had taken on Tou-san's voice, and I square my shoulders. "Follow me."

Then I put one foot in front of the other. Kaa-san had put her trust in me, and I couldn't just collapse and leave us vulnerable. Kiba didn't have anyone else.

* * *

Four blocks down I hear a scream. "Otou-san!" "Okaa-san!" I turn down a side alley and nearly run smack into Uchiha Izumi. I glimpse Itachi behind her, but I don't have time to think of him.

"Are you insane?" I whisper as I grab her sleeve and pull her along with me. "You'll be killed if you don't get to safety inside the mountain." Not half a minute later the street behind us explodes as a large wave chakra decimates the buildings.

Ichi prods Itachi who wasn't moving fast enough. "Stop being dumb."

We stagger together out into the street. All around us, Uchiha clansmen and women were directing civilians towards the mountain and shelter.

Izumi leans on San when I let her go. "You shouldn't let go of him. He'll make sure you're fine."

San barks at me once. "Of course I will."

I summon a smile for him. "I know."

She looks at me, scared, confused, and afraid, and I remember that she is only five years old, a child still.

"You guys should be okay going to the shelter." Itachi makes to break away from our group.

I lock his wrist in an iron grip. "You're coming with us." _What if he goes and dies?_ Only when he turns around to look at me to I see that he has Sasuke in a sling. "You have to look after your brother and yourself right now, there's no time to look for your cousins or your family or anyone else." I drag him along with me as we slide into the steady stream of young and elderly civilians. "There's no way for you to help with any of this."

He pulls his sleeve from my grip, but doesn't run off. "Why?"

I don't know what he's talking about and there's no time to question any of it. We stagger into the shelter of the mountain and make ourselves small in the back of one of the dugouts.

* * *

Outside the Kyuubi roars and I feel my ears pop. Beside me, Izumi had cried herself out and is now sleeping with her arms wrapped tightly around San's neck. He bears it with good grace, and I ache to know if her parents are alright, if she had seen them die, but I can do nothing for her or whatever happens to her family.

I can only look to the one part of mine that I have with me. I can't see Cousin Gaku or Cousin Ashi anywhere, and I had to conclude that they must be outside fighting or helping with the evacuation. I refuse to believe that they're dead. Kaa-san is certainly fighting, Aunt Kosshi is nowhere to be found.

There is only me and Kiba and he still refused to make any noise whatsoever.

I look over at Itachi and Sasuke. "What day is it?"

Itachi yawns. "It's nearly the eleventh I think."

 _Nearly the eleventh? No...It was the tenth of October?_ Then I didn't forget Naruto's birthday, I had lost track of the date.

"Is your brother alright?" I ask, and Itachi blinks at me.

"Why wouldn't he be?"

A twisted panic curls in my stomach. "He's not crying." I gesture around the large cavern. "All the other babies are crying, but your brother and Kiba aren't."

Itachi blinks again. "Sasuke is normally very quiet."

I look down at Kiba, who still seems to be gasping for air, and feel a sob build in the back of my throat. "But Kiba isn't normally quiet at all."

Itachi moves closer so that we're pressed together. "Is he a cousin of yours?"

My head snaps up so fast my teeth click together in my skull, and my eyes narrow as my lips draw back in a snarl. "He's my _brother._ " I all but bare my fangless teeth at him in an effort to make him move away.

Itachi's eyes widen, and he looks down at Kiba with a new light in his eyes almost like understanding. "Oh. I didn't know that was why you didn't come to the Academy for a while."

My heart rate shifts back to normal, and I feel a small twinge of remorse. "I'm sorry for snapping at you."

He looks down. "That's okay."

* * *

It's unclear how long we sat in the shelter before Itachi spoke again. "Why did you not let me leave?"

I look at him with tired eyes. "I couldn't let you get buried under a mountain of rubble or stepped on. You could've died out there."

He looks away. "But you don't like me." _Does he really think that? Honestly if I didn't like him I wouldn't try to help him?_ But of course he did, I wasn't nice to him in the past.

"But you're still my classmate." I say, too ashamed to meet his eyes. "I wouldn't have just left you out there to die."

"Oh." An uncomfortable silence lapses between us, even as the outside world shook.

"Who were you looking for?" I ask. It is a silly question, but I didn't know what else to ask.

"My parents." He says quietly. "I'm sure they're out there directing civilians to take cover." _Oh that's right, his father works in the police force._

"Your Otou-san works for the Military Police, right?" I ask, trying desperately not to think about my own father.

Itachi nods. "He's the Captain of the Konoha Military Police Force. It makes him very busy." And Uchiha-san is outside trying to save the people of Konoha. It is a thought both new and unexpected. _At one point, the Uchiha clan did care about Konoha. They care very much right now. So what changed?_ I couldn't remember why they started the coup in just under another decade, and Itachi doesn't give me enough time to think about it. "What does your Otou-san do?"

The words are knives ripping my insides to shreds, but I'm not angry, because he's not asking this to hurt me on purpose, and it's my own fault that I asked about his own father.

I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. "He's dead, Uchiha-kun." I try not to cry as I continue. It is hard, but I manage somehow, to keep the sob from my voice. "He worked in RnD." _Tou-san's all past tense now except for his death, that's very present tense._

"I'm sorry." And he is so genuinely sorry. "I saw him pick you up from academy. He loved you a lot."

I laugh quietly at him. "You didn't know." But then I smile, because his words are true. "He still loves me a lot." His death didn't stop that. I knew it didn't. _Another present tense besides death. Love._

From beyond the doorway of the shelter, the sun weeps tears of blood as it rises over Konohagakure.

* * *

Kaa-san stumbles into the shelter an hour later. "Hana?" "Hana?" I jerk awake and nearly bang my head against Itachi's. Somehow, I'd drifted to sleep with my head on his shoulder. Thankfully, he didn't seem to have noticed.

"Kaa-san!" I raise a hand to wave at her. "We're over here."

Her eyes light up as she sees us and she all but races over to scoop us up in her arms. "Thank heavens, you're both safe." It's only then that she spies the still slumbering Itachi who is curled up beside me, and Izumi with her arms wrapped around San. "Have their parents arrived yet?" She asks, even as she takes Kiba from my tired arms.

I shake my head. "I don't think so."

Kaa-san sets a hand on Itachi's shoulder and shakes him. "It's time to wake up, kid. Your parents'll be here soon."

He blinks up at her, confused and shaken. "Where are they?"

Kaa san helps him up and hands Kiba back to me. "Look after your brother for a moment, Little Nose." Kaa-san walks over and disentangles Izumi from San, and straightens. Izumi rubs her eyes as Itachi and I look on with mild disbelief. "Well, come along, you two. I'll notify the Uchiha clan where you are, but our house isn't flattened, despite some damage, and the Uchiha compound is."

"It's okay, Inuzuka-san." Itachi shifts awkwardly from foot to foot. "I have to find my parents."

Kaa-san looks back at him, and offers him a hand to hold. He stares at it as though it is a foreign object that he'd never seen before. "I know Fugaku's still alive, so you can thank god for small mercies. Not sure where your Okaa-san is." Kaa-san turns to Izumi. "I'm not sure where your family is either, but it's best that you two sleep somewhere other than the floor." They still look resistant, so Kaa-san puts a hand on both of their shoulders "I wasn't asking," and all but pushes them towards the door. "Come along, Little Nose." She tosses the words over her shoulder and I follow after them, the Triplets tagging behind.

* * *

Itachi's mother bursts through our front door later that morning. "You have them? They're safe?"

Kaa-san pins her with an unimpressed glare. "You think I'd hurt them?" She does step aside to let Uchiha Mikoto pass though. "They were tired and scared when I found them, but yes, all three of them are safe."

Mikoto-san looks contrite. "I'm sorry. I wasn't home last night, and Fugaku didn't see Itachi-kun or Sasuke-kun last night or this morning, so we feared the worst until we got your message." She rambled, clearly nervous as she wrung her hands. "You see, we didn't expect anyone to take them in this morning-"

"Where are they going to sleep after they go home with you?" Mikoto-san pauses and stares at Kaa-san with her mouth hanging open. For an uncharitable moment, I think she looks like a fish. "The Uchiha district's in center city isn't it? That's flattened to a pancake by now."

Mikoto-san looks an ever increasing amount of uncomfortable. "I wouldn't like to impose..."

I edge out from behind Kaa-san and give her my biggest smile. "They can stay here until you figure something out, Uchiha-san. They're my classmates."

She leans down to look at me. "You're Inuzuka Hana-chan?" _How does she know my name?_ I nod. "I'm not sure if I can intrude so much on-"

"Oh for Kami's sake." Kaa-san throws up her hands and guides Mikoto-san towards the door. "They'll be safe here, you're not intruding on anything, and you're busy trying to rebuild the district. Just let it be."

Mikoto-san is still giving backward glances as she walks towards the door, but doesn't say anything more as she leaves.

* * *

I wake to hear one of the clansmen in discussion with another one of clansmen and Kaa-san. "The Sandaime has called a meeting of the clan heads. It's imperative that someone is there to look to our interests, Tsume."

I hear Kaa-san snort dismissively at this. "None of you even bothered to come to my wedding besides Nee-chan, and none of you bothered to ever care about me or my children afterwards. Why should I bother dealing with the lot of you now?"

There's a silence, and then another voice speaks up more hesitantly this time. "We were in the wrong, Tsume-san, but you're the only one who can go tonight. Kosshi-sama...and Ashi's in the hospital and no one has found Gaku yet." _Why? What's wrong with Obaa-san?_

"Have someone else do it." Kaa-san's footsteps stopped outside my door.

"Please, Tsume-san. It's what Kosshi-sama would have wanted." The other clan members seemed to be getting desperate now.

"Don't you dare presume to use my sister's desires against me, Daisuke. You won't like the consequences. Now get out of this house." Kaa-san opens the door to my room, and smiles ruefully. "You heard everything didn't you, Little Nose?" She comes over and hugs me tight. "Kosshi was found this morning in the rubble." Her voice is thick with feeling, and I didn't know what to think or believe. _Obaa-san's gone?_ While she'd never liked me, she'd also never been cruel. "We were never close after I married your Otou-san, but she was still my sister. We were supposed to make up soon."

I wrap my arms around her. Inuzuka Tsume was twenty three years old, and in the span of a year she'd lost a sister and a husband and given birth to a second child.

It is a miracle that she's still standing after what would have broken so many others.

"I think you should go." I whisper. "Not for them. They don't care about us, but because we're still a family."

Kaa-san nods. "It figures you'd be the voice of reason." She gets up, and ruffles my hair. "Thanks for talking to me about everything, Little Nose. It means a lot to me."

I smile back as brightly as I am able. "I think we'll be okay."

Kaa-san laughs. "We sure will."

* * *

 **A.N.** Hello lovely people!

And holy smokes, 372259, thanks for reviewing every single chapter yesterday. You really made my day, hence lovely long chapter with lot's and lot's of Itachi-Hana interactions with some clan politics on the side.

I am going to say that this is going to be a very long series, as evidenced by the startling number of chapters so far, and that the romance is well, actually, in planning. I have a few ideas about how it's going to go, and with whom she's going to be shipped with, as of yet he hasn't shown up as a character, but none of it is going to happen until she sees herself through on Mission Protect Kiba until he's a grown up.

That being said, who she gets shipped with may in fact change.

Also, I'm planning to upload the side stories/snippets in a collection called Ashen, updating either bi-monthly or monthly, It should be going up this weekend so stay tuned for that.

Thanks for everyone who favorited, and followed since I last updated. You all are great.

~Tavina


	11. Academy Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Kaa-san comes home that night to the three of us sitting at the kitchen table with a clatter and a crash. Or more to the point, she throws open the door and roars several choice words about Shimura Danzo, which is very much something that Inuzuka Tsume would do. "If I have to see that old fossil one more time I will have a stroke."

Itachi and Izumi look at each other, and then back at me. "Is this normal?" Izumi's the first to ask it, as Itachi's too polite to even try to put such a question into words.

I nod.

"Of course it is, puppies." Kuromaru pads into the room, his nails clicking on the wooden floors. "Tsume doesn't mince words when she's angry with someone, much less someone who was as irritating as Elder Shimura today."

"You talk." Izumi blinks rapidly at Kaa-san's partner.

I laugh at Izumi's startled expression. "Don't you have summons?" She looks at me completely nonplussed, and I simply smile at her before going to hug Kaa-san. It is only then that I notice the dark-haired man behind her.

 _Uchiha Fugaku? Is this Itachi's father?_

"Itachi. Izumi." Itachi's face lights up when he sees the man by the doorway and he rises with Sasuke still carried in that sling in his arms. Izumi shuffles to her feet rather awkwardly while not looking him in the eye. "We cannot afford to intrude much more on Inuzuka-san's hospitality."

"Oh come off it, Fugaku, don't let that old fossil get you down about this." Kaa-san sets a hand on her hip, and grimaces at him.

Fugaku sends Kaa-san a rather unimpressed look. "He has the power to move my entire clan."

Kaa-san sends him a very unimpressed look right back. "Well, he's going to gain more power if we keep letting him take it."

Fugaku doesn't respond, instead he looks at me and Kiba for the first time since entering the room. "And you two are?"

I straighten automatically as I walk to stand before him. "Inuzuka Hana and Inuzuka Kiba. It's nice to meet you, Uchiha-san."

He blinks at me as though he'd just seen something bizarre. "You must take after your father."

 _The second drawer of the dresser. I'm proud. Proud of you, Sprout._ I smile up at him. "Thank you, Uchiha-san." There had to be a reason why Tou-san mentioned the second drawer. There is something that he wanted me to have there, or he wouldn't have mentioned it. I notice that he has a startled look on his face before I spin and race away back to my parents room through three sets of sliding doors.

* * *

There is nothing in the second drawer of Tou-san and Kaa-san's dresser, from the top or the bottom. I sit there on the floor and try to figure out where I went wrong.

He'd said the second drawer of the dresser, and then that he was proud of me. Would whatever he'd wanted me to have be in the second drawer of _my_ dresser?

I look over at Ichi. "What do you think?"

He tilts his head to the left. "It's worth a try."

Unfortunately, there's nothing in my dresser either. I sit with my head on my knees against the wall opposite the offending piece of furniture. What other dresser is there in the house?

"There's the new pup's!" Ni squeaks this from under the bed and I stand up again. _Yes, that's the last place I'll look before calling it quits on trying to find Tou-san's things for right now._

I walk over to Kiba's nursery room and stare at the wide two drawer dresser pushed towards one wall. I just stand there, and I can't open it. _Please, Tou-san. Tell me you left it here._

I open the drawer, and there's a package on top of a stack of papers. I take them all back to my room. As I walk down the hallway a note slips out from the pile and I pick it up and turn it over.

"Remember to give Sprout the papers as an academy graduation present. Also, birthday present number five is unlimited candy from the corner shop. The package is birthday present number six." My eyes fill with tears, and I wipe them away on my sleeve.

I make it to my room before the outburst comes in earnest. _Thank you. Thank you so much for loving me, Tou-san._ Even while he was dying he'd wanted me to know where my presents were.

I place the papers in the second drawer of my dresser, but I don't look at them. Instead, I go to sleep, still sniffling and wiping away tears.

* * *

I rise at dawn the next morning for my morning run, but this time I make it more ambitious, I decide that I could stand to take a lap around the village. The Academy is closed of course, as there is more need to help rebuild the village, but I would still need to go home.

And so I set out running down the side of the Naka river. As I make my way into center city, the destruction becomes more obvious. There are entire streets and buildings flattened, some river water's settled into the dusty streets, and little mementos are everywhere. I see no bodies though, and for that, I thank the clean up crews for doing such a good job.

I'm still ogling at the husk of what once must have been a kunai shop from across the street when someone else staggers into me and we both go flying back into the street.

"Rin?" The word's slurred and barely recognizable as a word at all, but the face attached to the only Rin I knew of in this universe is all too clear. I look up to find a Kakashi sans mask, his forehead protector barely hanging on over the sharingan. His eye is glassy and unfocused as he peers at me, and I am suddenly far too uncomfortable.

 _It's too early in the morning to deal with this._ "Hatake-san?"

His hand brushes against my clan birthmarks and he frowns, but staggers to his feet, pulling me with him. "'s wrong color. When'd it change?" He's still swaying on his feet and I reach out to steady him before I could think of what to do. _Is he sick? Is he running a fever, delirious?_ I try to feel his forehead, but he pushes my hand away. "'M fine." His hands are clammy and I can only assume that he's some sort of sick.

There's only really one person that I can turn to for help about this, and we aren't that far away from the house. _Let's go take a walk back to Kaa-san shall we._

I throw an arm of his over my shoulder. "Alright...Kakashi," His name tastes so foreign on my tongue. "We're going to take a walk, alright?" He hmms and is still so not in sync with the real world that I feel a bit of panic.

"They're all dead, Rin." This close, I can smell the alcohol on his breath. _Kakashi's a talkative drunk?_ "All of them, even you. Don't know why you're here." His head falls forwards and he's dragging his feet in the street, making it much harder to walk with him. "S-sensei, and Kushina-nee-chan, 'n you 'n 'bito." He sucks in a lungful of air and breaks down laughing. "'M the only one left."

I can't quite match this Kakashi with the same hostile antagonistic child that'd been so angry the first time I'd gone to visit Obito's name on the memorial stone.

I maneuver the sliding door open and we stumble in across the threshold. I put him in the spare room, and he seems vaguely content to stay there rocking back and forth. I wrap him in a spare blanket anyway, and he frowns at me. "not cold."

I do my best to smile brightly at him. _Rin smiled...right?_ "You will be." I tuck the corners down around his shoulders. "And then you'll want it." I pad out of the room carefully to the kitchen to boil ginger and toast bread.

Knowing how incredibly out of it he is now, he'll need the hangover cure when he wakes up.

Kaa-san rises and clatters into the kitchen in the middle of my fried egg journey. "Is there a reason you're making your cousin's favorite hangover cure?"

I turn to her from my position on the chair and put a finger to my lips. "I ran into a hungover scarecrow today who must be old 'cause he has white hair, anyway he's in the guest room."

Kaa-san narrows her eyes at me and slides open the screen door. She comes back to stand beside me. "That's not a scarecrow. That's the Hatake boy." She tilts my chin up so I have to look her in the eye. "How'd he let you drag him here anyway? They say that he's a violent drunk."

I frown. "He talked a whole bunch about how he was sorry, and such." I wave a hand in the air to emphasize my point. "He thought I was Rin." I turn back to the stove so I can flip the egg. "Kaa-san, who's Rin?"

"His genin teammate." I hand Kaa-san a plateful of eggs and she starts eating right there, but before she can even sit down at the table there's a knocking at the front door.

"Tsume-sama, Tsume-sama." Kaa-san marches down the hallway and jerks open the door.

"What?" She barks at the frightened young man on the other side.

"They've found Gaku." He shakes himself as if to clear his head. "He's alive." Kaa-san snags an egg and sets the plate down on the kitchen table.

"Watch Kiba please, Little Nose. I'm going to go check on your cousin." With that, like a whirlwind, she's out the door dragging the hapless messenger in her wake.

* * *

I'm sitting with Kiba with my back to Kakashi when I feel a kunai against my throat. "You shouldn't be unkind to your hosts, Hatake-san." My mouth sets into a hard line when he doesn't take the kunai away. "Get the kunai away from my Otouto before I rip your throat out with my teeth, Hatake-san."

He lets go and staggers around me so he can lean against the wall. "Why am I here?"

I point to the hangover treatment and breakfast on the small table off to my right. "Because you were drunk, mistaking me for other people, and about to pass out in the street and roll into the river which would cause you to drown."

He glances at the table and then back at me. "Who did I think you were?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "How would I know who Rin is?" He visibly flinches at this and I rise still holding Kiba. "Anyway, I'm sure you can show yourself out." _Of course, I bear no resemblance to the saintly Nohara Rin when he's actually in control of his memory and visual capacity._

 _I don't want to follow her example anyway._

* * *

The academy reopens a week later, and I reluctantly let Cousin Ashi mind Kiba in my absence. She'd torn ligaments in both her legs during the Kyuubi Incident and is quite content to remain in the reserve forces instead of being on the active duty roster. "Are you sure that you'll be alright with Kiba?" I'm not really trying to question her, I just can't stop worrying.

She looks at me and laughs. "I'll be alright, Hana." Her gaze turns distant. "I'm sorry that I missed the memorial for everyone, but Gaku's been returned to me, so that's what matters." _Aunt Kosshi had been her mother and she'd missed the memorial because they had to put her through emergency surgery just so she could still walk._

 _I would never be able to be as strong as she is._

"You should come and stay with us." I offer.

Cousin Ashi smiles at me. "I think Tsume-baa-san will do a good job leading the clan." She sets a hand on my hair, but doesn't ruffle it. "I'm going to be alright little cousin, you don't need to worry about me."

Thus, reassured, I set off to school.

* * *

I settle into a crouch in the ring opposite Izumi, who is still smiling, but I'd already made a vow. This time I won't lose to her.

She comes at me, fists swinging and I pivot to the side to grab her wrist in a hold loose enough that she doesn't think to break before I throw her over my hip using her own forward momentum. It's not hard enough to push her out of the ring as she skids forward.

I could see the gears in her head turning, and I beckon for her to come again. Her lips flatten to an unamused line, and mine curl upwards in a parody of Kaa-san's deadly smile as I raise an eyebrow. _Let her come._

We trade a flurry of blows before her guard drops and I punch her in the stomach hard enough to hurt, but not enough to bruise.

"Do you yield?" I ask her as she lies panting in the dust.

She nods, and we draw the mark of reconciliation to signal the end of the match.

* * *

"Uchiha-kun." I wave at Itachi from where I'd been sandwiched between Tokuma and Muta. His eyes light up when he realizes that I'm indeed still talking to him and I feel a twinge of remorse for ignoring him for so long. "Come have lunch with us."

"Hey, why're we-" I turn a saccharine sweet smile on Tokuma and he snaps his mouth shut as Itachi makes his way over.

"Toku-kun, it isn't nice to discriminate against people. Besides if we let Uchiha-kun sit alone he'll be mobbed by his fangirls."

Muta adjusts his glasses with his left hand. "I thought you didn't care what happened to Uchiha-kun."

Itachi pauses awkwardly a foot away from us. "I can go away if you'd like." He looks disappointed again, standing there with slumped shoulders.

"No, do sit down." Muta gestures to the space in our circle. "I was just curious as to why, Hana-chan had a change of heart."

I laugh. "Well, Uchiha-kun isn't mean so he can stay."

Itachi offers our group a small smile as he sits down. "Thank you, very much for letting me stay."

Tokuma huffs and crosses his arms, but says nothing mean. By his own standards it's quite a bit frosty, but by common Hyuga standards the gesture is positively friendly so I let it be.

* * *

Itachi shows up after school with a shuriken pouch at my unofficial training ground. He holds it front of him awkwardly and nearly shoves it in my direction when I turn to look at him. "I thought we could practice together since Otou-san was teaching me, but we hadn't started in the academy yet."

I beam at him. "Of course, but we should stretch first, otherwise we'd get sore."

He sits down across from me and bends over his legs like my mirror image. "I hoped we could spar today, too."

The words are so quiet I almost don't catch them. "Sure." I say, and poke his sandal. "But don't expect me to go easy on you just because you're the top of the class."

His eyes light up as he smiles, and he doesn't look like someone who will grow up to murder his entire clan. He just looks like a little boy who'd finally made an actual friend.

* * *

 **A.N.** Thanks to the Guest for reviewing, and everyone for favoriting and following Bloodless.

Ashen, the side stories, is up as of yesterday, so you all should go and check it out when you get the chance.

See you next time!

~Tavina.


	12. Academy Arc: Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Catch me if you can." I shriek as I throw myself forwards, and Tokuma's hand can't graze me in time. From across the clearing, I see Muta closing in and I hurriedly make the five hand signs necessary to replace myself with the log, but Tokuma is one step behind as he replaces me with himself, sending me right back into Muta's waiting arms.

"That's not fair!" I grouse at them.

However, even Muta's cracked a smile wide enough to be actually visible. "It's a part of the rules of the game, Hana-chan."

I laugh off my embarrassment at having been caught again, and stick my tongue out at them. "It's time to chase Toku next."

Muta and I share a look and we're after him yet again. It's the heat of high summer and in less than eight months we'd be slated to graduate and find a sensei for all of us together.

The thought seems more precious as time goes on. When we'd leave the safety of the Academy and everyone else we'd known to enter a brand new world. Even if it is just cleaning houses and scrubbing pots, we'd be doing it together.

By the time we collapse in a heap on the ground, we're all sweaty and out of breath from laughing too much. "This is the best game ever." I gasp.

Toku points at a bird flying across the clearing. "Just think, we were going faster than that."

I bump his shoulder with mine. "Just think, once we graduate we could go even faster than that."

Muta chuckles from beside us, and we both revel in the experience of a rare sign of joy from our stoic friend. "Statistically speaking, we will go much faster than that, if we want to make our dreams come true." He pushes his glasses up his nose. "I'm thinking about going into tracking after making chunin now." He waves his hands, and gathers up a stray kikaichu floating in the air above us. "You'll both be on my team, I know you will."

Tokuma raises himself up on one elbow and prods him in the cheek. "We've always known that, you told us that on the first day of class."

Muta blushes pink all the way from the two brightest spots on his cheeks down beneath his high collar. "I said that because I wanted you to like me." He whispers. "I didn't know if it was actually going to be true, but I wanted friends."

I sit up. "Well, you know, you've got friends and we are going to be on the same team, so you better be ready for more sparing."

Muta groans and rolls over to bury his face in the grass. "No, Hana-chan I don't want to be black and blue until next year." He pulls his sunglasses down to glare at me with a single compound eye. "You hit so very hard for such a small compact body."

Tokuma throws back his head and howls with laughter, his shoulders and legs shaking until he can no longer breath quite properly and then he just lies there and gasps instead. He's so different now from what he'd been like on the first day we met, and the thought warms my heart. _Just you wait, we'll corrupt you until you don't act anything like a proper Hyuga in public too._

* * *

I brace four shuriken in my hand and stare at the target across the clearing. With grim determination, I flick my wrist and watch as they all land haphazardly on the target. It's nowhere near Itachi's perfect bulls eye score, but I punch the air and dance around him anyway. "I did it. I did it."

He offers me a smile. "You did."

I throw my arms around his neck and forget everything except that this is true happiness. "It's thanks to your help, Itachi-kun, otherwise I'd fail the shuriken test for sure." He pats my back awkwardly and I realize that I really shouldn't be hugging him if it made him so uncomfortable. I let go of him rather quickly after the realization. He had problems with fangirls all the time, he didn't need a friend mauling him as well.

"Well, I wouldn't do nearly so well on history if you didn't tutor me."

I shrug. "I've always been reading about history even when I wasn't in the Academy yet anyway. It comes quite naturally after that." The trips to the library as a child wandering through the adult section paid large dividends now, when most of my classmates are still cramming for the graduation exam less than a month away. We gather up all the missed shuriken, and tug the ones that hit out of the tree so no one injures themselves on ninja weaponry for baby ninja.

Afterwards we walk down the street together in companionable silence searching for dango and I roll out the tight muscles in my shoulders. Toku and Muta hadn't entirely taken to Itachi within the year, but they weren't hostile if he came along with us either.

It is a start, which is good enough.

* * *

The morning of team placements, I tie my forehead protector around my neck to protect a vulnerable area, throw on my typical tan kimono shirt, and shorts and race out the door with the Triplets in tow. Kaa-san's gotten much busier since the clan elected her to lead it, and Cousin Ashi spends more time sleeping in the spare room than not.

"Eat breakfast on the way, Hana-chan." Cousin Ashi calls after me, and I throw up a hand in acknowledgement.

"I will!"

"Slow down, Hana." San huffs at me.

I turn back to look at San who is trailing behind and stick my tongue out at him. "You're just slow." He barks at me with wordless irritation at this, and I turn and keep running all the way down to the corner store, where Obaa-san still sold candies and onigiri for breakfast.

"Good morning, Obaa-san." I duck in amid the tinkling of bells.

"Oh my, Hana-chan." She puts a hand to her open mouth. "Where'd the time go? You're a genin already?"

I nod at her, proud of my achievements. "I get team placements today." I take a handful of hard candies and a packet of six onigiri. "Did Tou-san used to come here a lot?"

Obaa-san's eyes are far away as she nods. "He was always such a polite young man." She brushes a tear from her eye. "He was on my daughter's team actually, she'd so many good things to say about him." She pats me on the head. "It was all so long ago, Hana-chan. You'll find her name on the memorial stone too. The next time you go to visit say hello to Ito Ritsuko for me, will you? These old bones aren't what they once were."

I nod, and my hands fall to my bag where Tou-san's papers are tucked carefully away for me to read later. "I'll make sure to do that Obaa-san." I hadn't known about Obaa-san's personal sorrows, didn't know that she'd known Tou-san so well, but it made sense that she had to have, she'd always treat him kindly despite how the other civilians had acted.

* * *

I sit down before the memorial stone and scan the names until I find Ito Ritsuko. "Hello, Ritsuko-nee-chan. Obaa-san told me to say hello." And then I trace my hand over the familiar lines of Uchiha Obito. I hadn't wanted to come back after the Kyuubi Incident. He'd proven himself not to need a memorial after all with how many lives he'd taken, but I set out the handful of candies anyway. _Uchiha Obito still deserves someone to acknowledge how good he was once. Even if it is someone he'd never met before._

"He'd liked the strawberry ones best." I look over my shoulder to see Kakashi behind me. _After what, nearly four years of visiting the memorial stone, this is the first time he's volunteered information about his genin teammates. The last time he said anything about them he'd been drunk to the point of delusion. This is a very strange day._

"Oh, I'll get him only those next time, then. Thank you, Hatake-san." I turn back to my thoughts.

"Kakashi." For a moment I think that I must've misheard him, but he says it again. "Call me Kakashi, please." He comes to crouch beside me. "I didn't appreciate them when they were still alive." His fingers brush against their names so tenderly, unlike anything he'd been like before. "I shouldn't have been cruel to you the last time we met."

I blink at him. "What?"

He sighs."You were right. It's rude to be unkind to my hosts, and you gave me a place to sleep and a perfectly respectable meal because you thought I might've rolled into the river and drown myself, which was incidentally what I'd have liked to do." How long of a memory did he have anyway? _He wanted to drown himself in the river? Why?_

 _Everyone he'd known and loved had been gone._ A nasty voice whispers. _Would you be alright if that happened?_

 _Yeah right,_ I think back. _You forget I lost an entire life before, so you can scram and get lost._

"That was nearly a year ago, Kakashi-san." The words are more sarcastic than I had intended, and he winces. "Also, I don't think that death is all it's cracked up to be." _No, don't pay attention to that statement Kakashi!_ I had been so stupid to make that joke, but it really doesn't seem like he'd noticed the slip.

"I wasn't in a nice place then." He looks down at his hands. "I don't think I'll ever be in a nice place again."

My lips twitch, partly because I'm happy he didn't notice, partly because I know how much he'd grown and change in the years to come. "Well, I don't know. Tou-san did always say that I should take care not to become like you. That strange Hatake boy, as he'd always say." I stand up and brush the grass off my knees. "But I think becoming as skilled as you is certainly something I should strive for." I toss him an onigiri. "The first step to recovery is feeding yourself. You should try it sometime."

He eye-smiles at me. "This is convenience store onigiri, Inuzuka-chan. You won't grow up big and strong if you only eat these."

I frown and cross my arms at him. " It's Hana, and if you wanted actual food you'd have to go to my house to get it."

* * *

"And team six will be Hyuga Tokuma..." Muta and I exchange a look and wait with baited breath. "Inuzuka Hana and Aburame Muta under the leadership of Jonin..."

"Yes!" Tokuma stands and punches the air. "Team Tan is ready to face the world."

"Excuse me, Funeno-sensei?" I raise a hand. _I didn't get to hear the name of our sensei because Toku was too excited._ "Who did you say is our sensei again?"

"Nara Ensui-san, Hana-kun." Funeno-sensei looks over his clipboard at me. "I know you'll do just fine, so don't be nervous."

In fact, I don't think I've been this elated since the time Tou-san and I headed out to fly a kite nearly three years ago. _I get to meet Nara Ensui again._ The last time I'd tried to find him, I heard from the Nara clan that he'd moved out of the compound following the Kyuubi attack and they weren't at liberty to give his address out to little girls.

It had been a blow, since Kaa-san wasn't all that acquainted with Tou-san's only friend, and Ensui-san is probably so lazy that he'd not get out of bed in the mornings if he thought he could survive the slow torturous grind of hunger, which is why he wouldn't have ambled over on his own free time to visit me.

Nevertheless, I am elated that he'd been selected to lead my genin team.

"Do you know our sensei?" Muta whispers as Funeno-sensei moves on with team placements. "You seem abnormally excited to meet him."

"He's a friend of Tou-san's" I say and actually think about it for a moment. "And I don't think he's going to fail us because if he's volunteering to train a genin team he really wants us."

Beside me, Tokuma is positively giddy with glee. "Alright." He says as he slams a fist on the table. "We must be the luckiest genin in the Elemental Nations."

At the confused glances of our other classmates and sensei, Muta and I can hold our outrageous giggles no longer. _Toku's been corrupted. Call the Military Police. He's not snobbish enough. Help._

* * *

Ensui-sensei doesn't talk to us about a test. He simply slouches into the room, glances blearily around until his gaze falls on the three of us, and says. "Follow me." Then, he moseys off at a snail's pace.

We follow after him as he ambles about the city without a single word spoken. He'd gotten even lazier than the last time I'd met him as a child, and he'd a hangover from hell back then.

He slouches into a tea house off of main street, the sign reads Mufu-an, and a waitress shows us to a table in the back despite the packed crowd of morning customers. "Right this way, Ensui-san." _He's a regular here then. The staff uses his first name instead of Nara-san._

Once we are seated, he turns to us properly and looks the most awake he's been all day. "I'm sure Hana-chan's told you why I took your team. I'm here to watch her and teach her as a last gift to her Otou-san." Here he looks at Toku and Muta, with an undercurrent of something sharp. "If that sticks in your throat too much then both of you can get up and leave, and I'll just have an apprentice, that clear?"

Tokuma swallows. "I'm here to be a member of Team Six, Nara-san. I did know why you wanted to be our sensei, and I don't care."

Beside him, Muta nods. "We are a team, Nara-san. You'll take us or leave us together."

I frown at Ensui-sensei sitting across from us. He looked...tired and bedraggled. Overly sad. Nothing like the man I'd met with Tou-san who'd joked about troublesome women and perked up at training puzzles. "It's not like you to be this grumpy, Ensui-san." I read out across the table to set my small hand on his clasped ones. "But if you're only doing this for me, maybe you should take sick leave instead of a genin team." His eyes widen, but I continue. "You do look very tired."

But for the first time that day, he smiles.

"You all pass my test. Welcome to Team Six." And suddenly he isn't a bedraggled, deeply saddened and grumpy sarcastic man anymore. He's alive, almost vibrant despite the green mascara under his eyes giving him a bruised, tired look. _It was a test all along?_ I think back to what we said. _We demonstrated teamwork. The ability to sacrifice ourselves for the good of the group. Oh. He was playing with our emotions and seeing if it'll break us apart._

"I don't get it. Why was that a test, and why do you pass us?" Toku leans forward and stares very hard at Ensui-sensei with his disconcertingly pupil-less eyes.

To Sensei's credit, he doesn't even seem to notice. "There are going to be times when a superior tells you that it's not about you, that you're not important. You three decided to stick it out anyway." With that, Ensui-sensei waves his hand at the waitress. "Four cups of rose tea, and dim sum please."

"So we were supposed to answer the way we did to pass the test." Muta thinks aloud as he allows a steady stream of kikaichu to crawl over his fingers and back down his sleeve. "You wanted us to think that you were only here for Hana-chan, but actually you're here for all of us."

"The Hokage wouldn't have given me a genin team if I wasn't. It would be bad for your development."

I smile, at last somewhat relieved. _He isn't suffering from depression after all, or if he is he won't let it affect us._ "I'm glad you're doing alright, Ensui-sensei." I say, and pick up my cup of tea as it arrives to blow on its surface. "I was afraid that you really needed help."

Ensui-sensei smirks. "I'm doing alright." He picks up his own cup of tea and takes a sip. "I got married in the fall and there's been plenty of hell to pay the months since then."

 _And he has evidently wooed his troublesome woman as well. Oh congratulations, Ensui-sensei._ "Well that's great news, Sensei. We'll have to pay our respects to the woman that could persuade you not to be lazy."

He tugs a stray lock of my hair. "Not even half an hour and you've already lost all respect for me, Hana-chan." He turns his gaze heavenward with a wry smile. "Is this your final cosmic joke Kai-kun?"

* * *

 **A.N.** ...And now we are barreling into a New Arc. Team Training, and more Nara-isms coming up! And if you haven't seen the side stories and would like to, Ashen is now live, and updating semi-regularly.

Thanks Shy911 for the review! Actually, Dreaming of Sunshine is a big favorite of mine, although I do try to make Bloodless unique, so your review actually made me very excited. I'm happy to know that you like it so much.

If anyone hasn't read Dreaming of Sunshine by Silver Queen, you should hop right over and do that because it is truly fabulous.

Thanks so much for all of your support everyone. It truly means the world to me.

~Tavina.


	13. Team Training Arc: One

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto and every time I say this, it makes me sad.**

* * *

A month after we start tracking exercises, Sensei halts our training before noon and gestures us to come with him. Muta and I exchange a wordless look of confusion as Toku stretches his hands in front of him, and bounds over to Sensei. _Sensei's a Nara, but he's not a slacker. We've taken breaks for lunch but we've never just flat out left the training grounds before._ The Triplets clamber to their feet from where they'd been panting in the shade and trail after us.

Ni's had the hardest time of learning to track out of his siblings, and it showed in his plaintive whine. "Hana, why do we work? I don't like work."

I close my eyes for a long moment, and bring my determination to the forefront. "Because we need to protect our family." I pat him on the head and scratch behind his ears for comfort. "We want to be strong enough that nothing can hurt them, remember."

He perks up at this. "I remember! I remember now!"

That's the thing with Ichi Ni and San, they might have their own personalities by now, and they knew that I'm not smart enough all the time, but their idolization of my focus has never faded even a tiny bit. I am still untarnished, still infallible, and I wish with all my heart that I can stay that way.

"Hey Sensei, where're we going?" Tokuma takes Sensei's left side.

Sensei's still slouching and staring straight ahead despite Tokuma's questions. "I sometimes can't believe that you are actually a Hyuga, Tokuma-kun." Sensei mutters this under his breath.

To Toku's credit, he only laughs. "I'm a corrupted Hyuga because I've an Inuzuka and an Aburame as friends."

The thought warms my heart. When I'd looked at the lonely years in front of me in Konoha when I first realized where I was, there hadn't been time to think about whether or not I had friends. Now, I had three, and a family that I could be proud of.

"Hey Sensei, you ignored the question." I smile at Ensui-sensei from his other side. "You never did tell us where we were going."

Ensui-sensei ruffles my longer hair. I had started growing it out more despite my reservations because I had no desire to have Kakashi think of Rin if he ever saw me drunk again.

 _I'm my own person. I am not the ghost of some long dead girl._

"Well someone wanted to meet my family. Or as a certain impudent brat put it, 'the woman who could persuade me not to be lazy' so come. I'm introducing you to the troublesome woman." Ensui-sensei has a lazy drawl, and he slouches forward with his hands tucked in his pockets quite often.

Muta snaps on his sunglasses as we exit the training field. "Statistically speaking we should have already at least glimpsed your wife at some point during our lives in Konoha. We just didn't know what her significance was."

Ensui-sensei laughs. "I don't doubt it, Kiho's not that hard to find."

* * *

Nara Kihona is a tall woman with dirty blond hair, teal eyes, and a teasing smile. She's in the front of the small house tending to the flower garden when we arrive and she brushes the dirt off of her hands with a quick water jutsu. Looking at her dark purple outfit and high tail I conclude that Sensei's wife is in fact, a Yamanaka by birth. How closely related she is to their clan head Inoichi is unclear, but everything about her screamed Yamanaka.

"Ah, so you must be the Wastebasket's ducklings." She crouches down to pet the Triplets and squeeze the daylights out of Tokuma's cheeks. "Ah, aren't you all so cute! I'm Nara Kihona, but you all have to call me Kiho-baachan."

"It's nice to see you too, Vicious Hag." Ensui-sensei's slouched over with his hands in his pockets, but a smile on his face.

Kiho-baachan sticks her tongue out at him and flicks her hair over her shoulder. "If Ino-niichan heard you call me that you'd be in a ditch somewhere, Space Waster." She herds us into the house with her head held high. "I'm so sorry you have to hear such dreadful nonsense all day every day."

Tokuma frowns. "But you married him." I feel a slight chill in the air as Kiho-baachan leans down to smile at him.

"My husband's a waste of space, but he wouldn't even get out of bed in the mornings if I didn't make him. It's my job to make him a productive member of society, and it's your job to listen to him, alright?"

I slide a hand into hers and chirp brightly. "Don't worry, Baachan. Toku's a corrupted Hyuga so he's not stuck up."

Muta fiddles with one of his sleeves and scuffs his shoes on the floorboards. "Indeed, Nara-san. Don't hurt him."

She giggles with a hand over her mouth and gestures for us to find a seat around the kitchen table. "I kid, I kid, little ones." She turns with a happy hum to the stove. "Lunch will be ready in just a few minutes."

Sensei ambles into the room with his hands still stuck deep in his pockets at about this moment. "Kiho." He drawls, his eyes bright. "Don't scare my children."

Kiho-baachan smacks him on the back of the hand with her ladle as he attempts to steal a cookie from the counter. "They're now my children too, Ensui." The next few minutes pass in companionable silence as Sensei sits and Kiho-baachan busies herself with food. There's an old faded set of photographs on the counter that I slide off my chair to look at more closely.

"Those are our old academy pictures." Ensui-sensei says from behind me as I trace the central faded frame featuring three proud students making peace signs together. I knew all of them. There's Sensei's wife with a dreamy smile in the center, and Sensei himself trying to look cool on the right. The last person in the photograph I would know anywhere-wide, blue-gray eyes, a small smile, pale blond hair-

"Tou-san." I whisper, my voice cracking. "That's Tou-san right there." I scan the other pictures, Aunt Kiho wearing a crown of flowers and dragging a younger Kaa-san into the frame, a copy of Kaa-san and Tou-san's wedding portrait, Sensei and Aunt Kiho's team portrait sans Tou-san and Kaa-san but plus an Akimichi and a woman who must have been their jonin sensei, and another of Tou-san as a teenager posing as a cat at what must have been the Winter Festival.

"Ah, that's Kai-kun." Kiho-baachan looks at Sensei with accusing eyes. "Why on earth didn't you want me to go see her with all of these earlier?"

Sensei meets her eyes with a level gaze. "We still have a shrine on our counter even though he's been dead for nearly two years now. You would break down crying whenever his name was mentioned until two months ago. It would have made everything worse to visit, and it wasn't as if Tsume wasn't doing okay by herself."

Kiho-baachan sighs and starts setting dishes in front of us. "You're right as always, Space Waster."

* * *

After we visit Kiho-baachan for the first time, Ensui-Sensei has us take a mission a week. A single D-rank mission. Once a week. Certainly not even Kakashi the teacher from the darkest pits of hell had ever bored Team Seven to death like this.

After the third consecutive week of this, Team Six calls a huddled conference after training to attempt to figure out how to handle the overwhelming free time we suddenly had on our hands. Sure, Sensei made us do tracking exercises, he'd tell us that he had planted fifteen kunai using earth jutsu throughout the village and expect us to run through and find all seventeen tagged kunai with his scent, in an hour, but we still had a lot of free time on our hands.

He didn't teach us fancy jutsu, although he approved of Substitution Tag with fewer and fewer hand signs allowed. We'd gotten it down to two for simplicity's sake. We henged each other, inanimate objects and Sensei and random villagers until we were blue in the face and practiced cloning ourselves, but there weren't even D-rank jutsus that Sensei could be persuaded to teach us.

We had some sparring, but Sensei didn't teach us new Taijutsu skills either because he preferred to watch us spar and then give strategic pointers afterwards. He advised us on different ways to make our current moves more lethal, harder, faster, better, but nothing new is added to our repertoire.

And we went on no actual missions beyond weeding gardens and watching small children.

"We have to be able to do something harder at least." Tokuma runs his hands through his hair until the locks on the back of his head stick up into spikes. "This can't possibly go on."

Muta rubs the lens of his glasses with a sleeve and looks at Tokuma with one golden bug-like eye. "I would prefer not to get myself and both of you killed because we weren't ready to leave the village."

"I mean, Sensei's training us to be a tracking team, right?" I ask, as I tilt my head back to stare at the wide blue sky. "Theoretically we won't need any heavy hitting skills or S-ranked Jutsus. We're focused on finding the information, or hunting and bagging a target."

Tokuma sighs. "That's not really what I meant. I meant we should find some way to learn new stuff by ourselves."

My eyes widen with understanding. "You mean, we should learn things by ourselves?" I had planned to look at Tou-san's papers, but I'd never had the time. I pull them out now. "Tou-san left me some learning materials, we should look at them." We make our huddle even smaller. There's a scroll that I unroll eagerly. "Seven Earth Techniques for My Sprout." I read aloud, and Tokuma sighs.

"The Hyuga have a water affinity."

"And the Aburame's traditional affinity is Fire." Muta adds.

I pull out the other stack of papers. "Analysis on the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai." _Why would Tou-san have been looking at this?_ "Well," I say at last. "I don't think Tou-san's going to help us this time."

Tokuma stands up and pulls us both to our feet. "We should go eat dinner at my house, and then I can see if I can pester Koma-niisan to teach us something." Muta and I allow ourselves to be dragged along by our far more energetic teammate.

* * *

We do end up having dinner at the Hyuga compound that night, with only Tokuma's immediate family in attendance, sans his older brother Koma, who is out running a mission. His brother's twin sister Haya is in attendance though, and so are his parents, Hyuga Hideta and Hyuga Reichiru. The three of them are more dignified that Toku on a good day, but they seem to take his energy and exuberance with good grace and no admonishments.

"I'm so glad you finally brought your teammates over for dinner, Tokuma-kun." Reichiru-san says as she sets two extra bowls of rice out for us at the table.

"It was indeed bad manners not to invite them over earlier." Hideta-san smiles at both of quite kindly, and Muta and I are marginally more at home.

"Dear, don't scold him." Reichiru-san sets a hand on Hideta-san's shoulder and they share a smile.

Haya simply turns back to the large medical text she has open next to her rice bowl. "Please let me keep reading, Haha-ue." She says as Reichiru-san attempts to close the book and put it away. "I have a practical test on liver surgery tomorrow that I've yet to finish preparing for." Tokuma's parents exchange a look, but let her keep the book open.

* * *

"And then the brave shinobi unsheathed his tanto..." I made the requisite shhk sound of unsheathing a sword. "And dueled courageously with his enemy!" I snap the book shut and wriggle my fingers like a spider at Kiba who shrieks with laughter.

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! Read it again!"

I gather him up in my lap and tickle his toes. "We can do that later, maybe." Whatever else I'd been concerned about, I am certain that I am not a worse sister to Kiba than Hana was in canon, given that his first word had been Nee-chan followed closely by Kaa. The librarian glares at us from over her glasses and I glare just as fiercely back until she looks away.

With a huff, I gather him up, set the book back on the shelf, and walk out the door. "Thank you for your time and cooperation." I don't expect an answer from the stern woman, and I don't get one, which suits me just fine.

"We're leaving?" He sounds disappointed.

I look down into Kiba's dark brown eyes and poke his cheek. "We're going somewhere much more fun: the kennels."

His entire face lights up at this. "Nee-chan's the best Nee-chan in the entire world." He waves his arms to gesture at our surroundings and I laugh.

"Well, I sure hope I am, I'm _your_ Nee-chan after all." I owed Kiba more than he could possibly imagine for lighting up my world again after Tou-san. I want him to become the best that he could ever possibly be. I want to give him the best.

* * *

That weekend Itachi and I eat dango together at a stand off of main street. Or well, I eat a single skewer of dango at a sedate pace while Itachi orders five skewers of varying flavors and practically inhales the food just slowly enough that his cheeks don't bulge like a chipmunk. I cover my mouth to prevent from breaking into laughter at the mental image of Itachi as a chipmunk.

He looks at me with curiosity. "What's the matter?"

I shake my head. "I just had a funny thought that's all." I pull another piece of dango off the skewer with my teeth and chew slowly. "Tell me about your team, Team Two, isn't it?"

Itachi falls silent. "I don't know how to describe it."

I look at his down turned lips and wonder if Itachi had ever been happy with being a ninja in his entire life. "What's wrong?"

He valiantly makes an effort to try to smile, but it doesn't quite work and he looks like he's trying very hard not to wince instead. "Temma doesn't like me and Shinko is..."

I pat his shoulder. "You'll survive. After we make chunin we can take missions together, or you could enter ANBU if that's what you want." _Just preferably ANBU that's far far away from Danzo's meddling_

"What did you want to do after your chunin promotions?"

I chew another piece of dango while thinking about my future life. "I want to take a non-desk job that'll be close or inside the village."

Itachi blinks. "You don't want to go into tracking?"

I shrug. "Not really, it would take me out of the village a lot, and I'll see Kiba less often." I meet his eyes and smile. "I don't want to miss his childhood you know? Tracking and the Hunter Nin Division is full of missions that take months at a time."

Itachi looks away first and twirls his empty dango skewer around his fingers. "Am I being selfish if I'm not willing to give up ANBU for Sasuke?"

There's only one reply to that. "No. Of course not. I don't think I'm giving up anything by not becoming a Hunter Nin." I set a hand on his arm when he still refuses to look at me. "Itachi-kun, everyone knows you love Sasuke. Sasuke knows that you love Sasuke. We aren't the same you know, you want to be ANBU, that's different from me."

He nods. "Oh. I see."

I smile, relieved that he understands. "Yes."

* * *

"Alright, let's get this thing started, Little Nose." Kaa-san stands with her feet planted shoulder width apart across the clearing with Kuromaru. She'd dragged me out for training at an ungodly hour of the morning and in the pre-dawn light, the Triplets and I stood shivering.

The Inuzuka techniques weren't exactly a kekkei genkai and they certainly weren't something you'd be able to find in a book. From what I could understand by speaking to Cousin Ashi, the techniques were just something an Inuzuka knew. We didn't really read about it and then learn how to do it, we just _did._

"You ready?" Kaa-san asks as she pulls out a bottle.

I nod, and Kaa-san throws a soldier pill at Ichi who catches it in his mouth. He explodes with a surprising amount of light gray chakra not two moments later.

"Feel his chakra. Feel the connect you have with him, Hana."

I breath in. I breath out. And I focus on the chakra that is not next to me like it is on most days, but a part of me. I feel myself shifting into all fours to match more evenly with Ichi.

We breath in. We breath out. And we are one and the same.

We leap when Kaa-san tells us to, and turning counterclockwise is the song in our blood, the ground beneath our feet. We fly at impossible speeds across the clearing, as naturally as breathing, perfectly coordinated.

And then we crash straight through a tree and it shatters into slivers that fly everywhere as we tumble onto the ground on the other side suddenly not the same beast any longer.

With a groan I attempt to push myself up, but every muscle in my body screams in protest and I flop back down again.

San and Ni race over. "I want a turn." "I want a turn."

I laugh weakly. "Maybe next time guys." I sit up and feel the protests shriek through every inch of skin in muscles that I didn't even know I had. "What was that?"

Kaa-san stands above us with a wicked grin on her face and Kuromaru looks more deadly than ever. "That was the first clan technique you will ever learn. Fang Passing Fang." Kaa-san gestures to the tree. "It looks like you have the basics down already." She looks back down at me, still as limp as a noodle and not entirely elated. "You've got a dismal lack of stamina, but that'll come with practice."

 _I just hurtled through a tree like a drill and now the tree's dead._

The thought brings a barking laugh to my lips. "I did it." _I'm actually an Inuzuka._

Kaa-san leans over to ruffle my hair. "You did. Now you've got to practice doing it until you can get to that state in less than an eye blink and hold it for longer than the fights you'll be picking." The thought brings terror to my heart and it must have shown in my face because Kaa-san sits down next to me, and proceeds to tell me the first time she tried the clan technique with Kuromaru and ended up crashing into a lake.

"Your aunt was always the better one when it came to the clan techniques as a child." Kaa-san muses.

"But we never stopped working hard." Kuromaru counters. "We never gave in."

Kaa-san scratches behind his ears. "No. We didn't." Kaa-san agrees and turns her gaze on me. "And you won't either, no matter what Nara teaches you."

I nod. "I'm an Inuzuka." I say and Kaa-san smiles and spins me around despite my wobbling legs.

"You're my daughter." Then she pulls me close in a fierce hug and I can feel how she smells of pine because it seeps into my every pore. "He'll be so proud of you."

"Un." I agree and hold up a pinky. "I know."

* * *

 **A.N.** Thanks to Snidekick and Shy911 for reviewing! (Also, Shy911 I don't think your reviews are disjointed at all. I love reading them.)

Also, since I'm excited today, have a second chapter.

We've officially started Hana's genin days, guys. And this chapter at ~3,500 words is the longest yet.

Thank you so much for your support.

~Tavina


	14. Team Training Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I make no money from writing Naruto fanfiction. Naruto belongs to Kishimoto.**

* * *

"And now after you apply foundation..." Kiho-baachan trails off as she takes in Muta's frown.

"Nara-san..."

She puts a finger over his lips. "Kiho-baachan."

His frown doesn't lighten when she withdraws her hand, but he does begin his statement again. "Kiho-baachan, I don't think I'm ever going to look like someone else." He gestures to his eyes. "The Aburame eyes are very ugly and distinctive."

Tokuma and I sit in silence watching the ongoing drama. It is fairly normal for Muta to take his glasses off now when it's just the team plus Sensei or Kiho-baachan, but he kept them on religiously when we were out and about in the village.

We didn't really know how to make him let go of it, and the protective eye wear seemed to be a clan thing as well.

Kiho-baachan picks up his glasses from the dresser where he'd left them as she lectured us about the art of makeup in infiltration and snaps them in half. "Your eyes are fine, They are not ugly and they will not be overly distinctive with the right amount of work." She sets the broken halves in his right hand and wraps his fingers around them. "Trust me."

He blinks and I can see him struggling. "I can't go outside like this."

I swing off my chair and sit on the floor in front of him. "That's a lie, Muta-kun. You look fine the way you are."

He swallows, hard. "I scare people like this."

My lips set into a mulish line as I stare back at him even as he tries to avert his eyes. "They don't deserve you anyway. We aren't scared of you." _The civilians in this village deserve to rot in hell for some of the things they've done. Bully children because of what they look like, ostracizing a clan that protects them..._ I might be biased because someone had been openly happy to see Tou-san's funeral procession, but I wasn't stupid before, and I'm not stupid now.

"Yeah, why'd we be scared? You're our best friend." Tokuma comes to sit next to me and from behind Muta's line of sight, Kiho-baachan smiles.

"Thanks guys." Muta looks down at his glasses again and gapes. "They aren't broken."

Kiho-baachan giggles from behind him. "A genjutsu, Muta-kun." She sets a hand on his shoulder. "I wouldn't want to take away your options, but you do have to face the village sometime. Wearing glasses is fine, not wearing glasses is fine, but please don't think that learning how to apply a disguise the old fashioned way instead of henge isn't worth learning. You can do great things only if you let yourself dare to believe them."

Tokuma clambers onto her makeup stool next. "So if I can have contacts to cover my Byakugan is it possible to disguise the prominent vein bulging caused by activation if I apply enough makeup the right way?"

I squeeze Muta's hand as Kiho-baachan goes over the steps to disguise an active Byakugan on Tokuma's face. "We meant what we said, Muta-kun." I whisper.

"I know." He whispers back. "I'll think about it."

* * *

Two months later, we're in the middle of a three way brawl when Ensui-sensei pauses our fight with his shadow. I am frozen uncomfortably almost touching the ground behind me. Muta is in the middle of raising his hand to send out more kikaichu and Tokuma's in the middle of swinging a kunai where my head had been not a second ago.

"Come along, ducklings." Sensei drawls with his hands in his pockets. "This morning we have a mission and we're leaving at sundown." He unfreezes us and ambles off. We scramble to get out of our frozen position and follow him. Sensei could be remarkably fast if he wanted to be despite appearing to be moving deceptively slowly.

"Did he say we're running a mission and that we need to leave to go somewhere over night?" Tokuma's dragging his hand through Ni's fur as he says this, eyes wide with anticipation.

Muta snaps his glasses on, but then pauses with his fingers still on the bridge. He takes them off again and slips them into the pocket of his high collared jacket. "I believe that is indeed what En-sensei said."

Tokuma and I smile at each other. _He's finally done it. Decided to face the village without thinking that people'll run away from him._

* * *

"Team Six reporting for their first C-rank mission, Hokage-sama." Ensui-sensei straightens in the presence of the Sandaime, who looks over us with great enthusiasm.

"All of the rest of your graduating class has taken at least one C-rank before now." _Oh, well we have been genin for about six months already. The new fall term will be starting soon._

Sensei puts his hands behind his neck. "I wasn't looking for merchant guarding. Not for my team." The way he says my team makes us stand a little taller. We were Konoha's next tracking team in training, as Ensui-sensei had told us before. We would be great, or we would keep trying.

"Very well, although merchant guarding is a task that must be accomplished as well." The Sandaime hands over a mission scroll. "Bandits have stolen a priceless artifact from the Fire Daimyo's travelling party near the city of Furukanai. Team Six is given this mission as a search and retrieval."

"As the leader of Team Six, I accept the mission." Sensei takes the scroll from the Sandaime and passes it to Tokuma. "We leave at sunset. Read over the mission parameters and pack as you see fit for the journey. We should be out for at most a week."

"Yes, Sensei." We salute him and then turn and walk sedately to the door of the mission desk room before breaking out into war whoops and runs as soon as we were outside.

* * *

"So it says here that the bandits attacked the party outside of the city of Furukanai, and it is likely that they will be trying to sell the artifact on the black market inside the city." Tokuma scans the mission report as we sit at the kitchen table at my house. "Our goal is two fold, first, relocate the artifact before it can move outside the city, and second, to apprehend the bandits who stole it."

"We won't have too long to make sure the artifact doesn't get out of the city, how far away is Furukanai?" Muta has a single sheet of paper out as he scribbles down supplies that he thinks we'll need. "We have two hours until sundown, let's make them count."

San barks at him. "We can track the person easy."

I laugh and think back to the map of Fire Country. "Furukanai is a small city roughly a day's worth of civilian paced travel away from here." I make a face. "The Daimyo's wife probably wanted to ask where her hideous cat was again." I do the calculation in my head. "If we leave at sundown we should probably arrive at Furukanai sometime at midnight. Sensei by himself can probably make the trip in three hours at an easy pace."

"So if we start searching the city by dawn the next morning, we should be able to locate the artifact in a day or two." Tokuma finishes. "We are good enough to find tagged kunai in the flea market and a manure pile after all."

I shudder. "Don't remind sensei or else he'd probably make us do it again."

"So we should pack for a week with food rations, travel as light as possible, we'll need a set of kunai and shuriken each." Muta pauses and taps the end of his brush against the edge of the kitchen table. "And we'll need to be prepared for low level fighting if the bandits still have the artifact."

I nod. "Let's meet by the east gate, that's the fastest path to Furukanai."

* * *

By sundown each of us were standing at the gate with the lightest traveling pack that could still accommodate a week's worth of rations. I also accommodated for three large dogs who would in essence eat like the famished by tucking several hundred ryo, and a bottle of soldier pills in a side pocket of my pack. There simply isn't space to pack enough food for the Triplets at the speed we would have to go. We were still dressed in ninja gear, but the civilian disguises Kohi-baachan had created for us were safely tucked away. We were ready.

Sensei appears in a swirl of leaves from the trees behind us with no discernible pack of his own, just two scrolls hanging onto his waistband. "Everyone's here? Good."

Ichi barks. "Get on with it."

We nod to the gate guards and then hurtle towards the treeline.

In the six hours of straight running that we do through the Konoha treeline, we get more than enough practice with chakra control. Tree walking wasn't something that Sensei had officially taught us during our six months as genin, but we, being clan kids had learned at home. Unlike Team Seven, Team Six is actually prepared with the ninja basics. We didn't have flashy techniques like Great Fireball or Shadow Clones, but for our line of work, we didn't need them.

The academy three came as easily as breathing now. We were clan kids with the might of a living clan behind each of us. We were a cohesive team unit and had been since the Academy. We knew each other's habits and accepted and covered for each other's flaws.

In short, despite not being the powerhouse team, we are actually much better off.

Not for the first time, I appreciate Ensui-sensei's genius at making us bond over trivial things like digging kunai out of manure and focusing making the fastest substitution and the foresight of whomever was in charge of team placements during our graduation to put three people who actually liked each other on a team. And also not for the first time I wondered what the council had been smoking when making team seven.

* * *

We arrive at the gates of Furukanai a little after midnight. There are a few of the Daimyo's guards waiting for us at the gates, not that gates would have stopped a team of determined shinobi, despite the shinobi in question being genin.

They show us to a seedy looking hotel room and we all crash into bed. There'd be time to start tracking the artifact at dawn.

* * *

The next morning Sensei tells us not to expect his help with our own mission as it turns out there are several things he needs to check on the orders of the Hokage that are above our clearance level.

"That's alright. We won't be facing anyone with serious combat skills or in danger of losing each other in a crowd." I tug at the loose hemline of my childish sundress and wish that it didn't have to be such a bright pink.

Sensei blows on the top layer of his morning tea, and gazes across the table at us. "I've no doubt that you all are perfectly capable of taking on bandits and even other genin. I don't think you're ready for anyone of higher capacity at your current skill level. All three of you working together might be able to take out a chunin, but I wouldn't bet on coming out in one piece with that fight."

We look at each other and nod. _It's good to have a nice sharp dose of reality every now and then._

Sensei's not done though. "Thus, I expect you as my team to comport yourselves in a manner that means you understand your skill level. Don't jump into a fight that you can't win, and don't fight honorably. If you have an advantage, press it. If you must kill someone to finish the mission, kill them, but don't leave a single teammate behind unless you want to find yourself in a padded cell."

Ensui-sensei looks around at our stunned faces and smiles. "I handpicked each one of you for this team." _Oh, so he was the one to arrange our rather above average dynamic. That's why it makes sense._ "I don't expect to need to tell you this, but I also don't want you to get cocky and get yourselves killed."

"Don't worry, Sensei." Muta looks at Ensui-sensei through the brown colored contacts of his disguise. "We won't disappoint you."

"Good." Sensei drains his cup of tea in a single swallow, and vanishes out the door. A moment later, we're shuffled into the morning crowd, one dog to each child, and a few kikaichu clinging to Tokuma and me.

* * *

We meet again for lunch in a back alley, munching on ration bars which tasted like the freshest incarceration of evil, but didn't draw attention to ourselves and had no chance of being poisoned.

When he's done chewing, Tokuma brushes the crumbs from his black khaki pants and says. "I believe I spied the cat statuette that we've been sent to retrieve in the southwestern quadrant of the market."

I nod. "Are we sure that it's not a similar cat statuette?"

Ni scratches his ear and looks at me. "It smelt like the Daimyo's people when I got close enough to it."

He offers and I throw him a treat. "Good work."

Muta smiles as well. "When I passed by it for the second time today I made sure to mark it with one of my kikaichu. Even if someone buys it we'll still be able to track it because she knows to stay discrete."

We three of us exchange matching elated grins.

"Easier than manure." I say, and we all wince simultaneously. _Oh why did I mention the manure?_

"Easier than manure." The boys agree.

"Plan 5?" I ask. "Just a grab and run?"

Muta nods."It's probably the safest plan. We're just kids, and we don't have the kind of money to buy the thing outright."

"We'll meet up back at the hotel room." Tokuma says. "You grab and run, and we'll stall them for as long as possible."

* * *

We split up again, but this time, not too much heading for the stand with the cat statuette. As the fastest and smallest runner, I henged my dress into a dark gray, much less noticeable than the bright pink it had been before and brace myself.

 _Another two stalls and I'll have to snatch it off the table. Another one now. Muta's at five o'clock and Toku's at nine. Ten steps, now five, now two. NOW._

I grab the little statue off the table and take off running straight towards Ichi who'd been outfitted with a pouch strapped to his belly in the next alley over.

"Hey!" A man's voice, probably the stand vendor's sounds behind me. "Catch that thief!"

There's a clatter and a crash behind me, and Muta's soft voice apologizing to the vendor, but I don't turn to look. I bolt down the alleyway and shove the figurine into Ichi's pouch before throwing myself onto his back and he takes off at a faster speed than I can manage even with chakra boosts. Behind me I hear Ni and San pick up Muta and Toku and take off in different directions.

* * *

I arrive back at the hotel room first, and release my henge so that my dress is again bright pink, I tug it over my head and start throwing on my regular tan shinobi gear.

Toku tumbles in soon after, and starts taking out his contacts and wiping off his Byakugan hiding makeup. "Muta's not here yet?"

"He took the longest route." I reply. "I think you would know better than me how it went down." I turn to look at him as he bandages his pants to his ankles. "Are there any pursuers?"

He grimaces. "No, but there was only one vendor and Muta got a pretty good hit on him to prevent him from chasing us. I can't believe that it would go off that easily though."

As he's talking Muta slides into the room with San. "You shouldn't expect any chasers. I got the vendor with kikaichu and the bandits seemed to have sold the statue to the man so they're probably long gone by this point."

"Still," I say as I toss him his high collared jacket and dark pants. "We should be careful." We camp next to the cat statuette for the rest of the afternoon while pretending to play a rowdy game of majong. As it turns out, it is that easy, because there are no authorities knocking our door down for theft.

Sensei comes back at not quite sunset. "I take it that you've succeeded then." He says from the doorway. We nod and point to Ichi who still has the pouch. Sensei looks around the room at our neatly packed bags and unmade beds. "Let's take this to the Daimyo and call it a day then." He pats each of us on the head as we pass him. "Good job today. Your mission was completed with minimum fuss and fanfare, and you coordinated very well."

Tokuma looks at him with suspicion. "You make it sound like you were there, Sensei. Did you really just watch us the whole time because you were afraid we'd mess something up?"

Sensei shakes his head. "There was a break for late lunch and I discovered a disturbing theft in the market that the law enforcement couldn't find the culprits for and I assumed that you had indeed planned and executed the maneuver to free our target."

* * *

The day after our mission, we sit down to breakfast at Mufu-an, which by this point is clearly Sensei's favorite tea house, though he did also seem to know at least one tea house in every city in Fire Country. "Now, since this is a standard C-Rank mission all you have to do is fill out one team mission report and call it a day." Sensei slides a mission report template across the table to us. "This is due as soon as possible, so I'd suggest turning it in in the next hour or two."

We'd learned how to write mission reports back in the Academy, and our report is really quite simple. Briefed on parameters. Traveled to destination. Scouted target area. Located target. Executed Team Six Plan 5b: The Grab and Run Theft. Reported back to central. Mission success. Details for Team Six Plan 5b attached.

After we filled out the mission report to Sensei's standards, we ambled over to the mission desk together to report a successful completion and draw our C-rank pay check.

"Ensui, stay behind please." The Hokage isn't manning the mission desk today, instead he seems to be waiting just for Team Six and specifically for Sensei. We filed our report and then turned around to leave. Whatever had to be discussed today is probably to do with Sensei's other mission directive that was above our clearance level.

"Does anyone want to come back to my house?" Toku asks. "Koma-niisan should be home today and he'd be willing to help with taijustu forms." He's whistling a cheery tune.

I suddenly replace myself with a potted plant down the street. "Of course I do!" _Who would ever pass up more training with Koma-senpai?_ I turn to stick my tongue out at them. "Last one to Toku's has to dig through manure!"

With a growl, Toku and Muta both start substituting themselves for random items and we race off with the taste of victory still on our tongues. We had been successful, not wildly so, but good enough.

* * *

 **A.N.** And we're off! Missions galore.

(Of course Team Six would have a Plan 5b, it's something a Nara would cook up for their rather structured missions.)

Thanks so much to Sis and Snidekick for reviewing! You make my day.

~Tavina


	15. Team Training Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: Still don't own Naruto.**

* * *

On a chilly winter evening, Muta invites us back to his house in the Aburame Compound, including Ensui-sensei, who begs off to go elsewhere. Toku and I tag along though, and I think about if I remember what the inside of the Aburame Clan Compound looked like, or even if it was featured in the anime at all.

I draw a blank. The Aburame were known to be insular, withdrawn, and stoic. They aren't actively feared, but the civilians within Konoha did find bugs distasteful and tended to avoid the Aburame as a general rule of thumb. So the fact that we'd been invited to visit at all despite it being nearly nine months since we'd been teamed together is actually a larger success than I thought would be possible.

"My parents are eager to meet you both." Muta says, his expression placid. "And my little sister would very much like to meet Hana-chan especially."

Toku grins. "Not me, Mu-kun?" He slings an arm over Muta's shoulder in a casual gesture of good cheer. "After all, everyone knows that I'm devilishly handsome."

I snort and punch him in the shoulder. "You mean, you're an average Hyuga clan member with disconcerting white eyes and an ever stiff and formal manner."

Toku smirks at me. "And you're the unfocused girl from dog hill."

I shrug. "We are what we are."

We walk onward in companionable silence.

* * *

Aburame Nao and Aburame Shoko are welcoming, if a bit stoic enough as to be nearly impenetrable. They are perfectly polite, and perfectly complementary moving with gentle synchronized grace, but if I thought I was accomplished for being able to read Muta, I deserve to be smacked upside the head. Muta is positively exuberant when compared to his parents even back when he was acting guarded.

We eat dinner with polite, courteous conversation and Hisae chatters at me nonstop about what it means to be a konoichi, her kikaichu humming as I speak to her.

I tell her about the long days in the training fields underneath the baking summer sun, then again in the chilly wind of autumn. I tell her about searching for kunai in manure piles or the one flower in a field that had Sensei's chakra imbibed in it. I tell her about the only C-rank mission that we've completed so far, and why Sensei let us wait so long before we went on it. I tell her the importance of working as a team and how much fun I've had with her brother and Toku.

It's a warm experience to be able to talk about my life, all it's upsides and it's downsides with someone who is happy enough to listen.

At the end of the night, Nao-san invites us back for monthly visits and Muta smiles at us. "That's the most Okaa-san and Otou-san have spoken in one night in living memory."

I blink at him. "How did you learn to talk if no one ever talks to you?" I hear Toku howling with laughter behind us and I grimace. "I'm sorry, Muta-kun that's just rude."

He smiles at me again, twice in one night, which must be some kind of record, and shakes his head. "I don't mind, and yes, Aburame children do tend to also speak less than Inuzuka children."

I take the stab at my clan with good grace, as I had certainly been rude to his just moments before, and drift on homewards.

* * *

I'm awoken in the middle of the night two months later by Kaa-san shaking me. "Your idiot sensei wants you for a mission Hana-chan."

I jerk awake. _Ensui-sensei wants us now? It has to be time sensitive._ "When?" I ask as I start throwing on clothes. "How long?" I ask, reaching for a pack while attempting to strap on my kunai pouch at the same time.

"It's a chase. An infiltrator's gotten out of the village, and they need a tracking team to run them down."

I nod. "No pack then. Just kunai, shuriken, soldier pills, and the Triplets."

Kaa-san pats me on the head. "This is one of the most important missions you'll take as a genin, Little Nose." She crouches down to look me in the eye. "They reserve the bigger fish for the Hunter Nin Squads in ANBU, but this one your idiot sensei must have thought was your skill level." Kaa-san ruffles my hair. "Out and at 'em. Get 'em good."

I smile at her. "It's what we do best." With a whistle for the Triplets I race down the stairs, three sets of paws thumping along after me into the night.

Sensei is standing on the porch with Toku. "I told Muta to meet us at the west gate." He says by word of greeting as we run through the streets. "There's been a chunin plant from Kumo who left the village earlier tonight. She should be about two hours ahead of us."

"Mission parameters, Sensei?" Toku asks as we approach the gate. Through the looming darkness I see Muta's high collared outline. As we get closer, a single kikaichu settles on each of us, and the Triplets break formation to come stand, one beside each of us.

Ensui-sensei tosses a kunai holster stained with what must have been blood at them. "This is the target's pouch. The gate guards were able to take this off her during her escape." He then turns and hands Tokuma a picture. "This is what the target looks like." The woman is unsurprisingly not distinctive. Dark brown hair down, at shoulder length. Dark brown eyes, oval face, her face is generic enough that unless she is singled out, no one would pay much attention or recall seeing it before.

The Triplets sniff at the pouch, and then Ichi turns to me. "We have the scent."

I nod. "They have the scent, En-sensei."

Beside me, Muta's kikaichu are buzzing louder than usual. "And my kikaichu have the chakra signature of the target as well."

Ensui-sensei nods. "Our parameters are capture, live or dead. Preferably we keep the plant alive so T&I can get what they learned from the village out of them, but failing that, if it's a necessary kill, I will do my best to take care of that." With that dose of sobriety, we leap into the trees, Ichi taking point.

"I found the scent!" Ni cries. "I found it."

After that, we race through the forest following the scent track that he'd found.

* * *

We'd been running for what seemed like forever, the sky lightening more by the minute when Ichi suddenly backtracks into Ni and San. "TRAP!" He barks and I scramble to inform everyone else.

"Trap." I make the two requisite hand seals as everyone else realizes that there is something deeply wrong, and replace myself with a log. The ground where I'd been standing explodes outwards and Sensei scoops all of us up and leaps into the trees. It's only there that we realize we'd messed up more badly than we'd ever thought.

It isn't just that we'd walked into a trap and nearly got blown to kingdom come. It's that Sensei is clearly injured, having taken the brunt force of the rubble we would have been pelted with, and that we were not alone.

"All of you..." Sensei rasps. "Pay attention and remember the mission directive." He has his hands held in the rat seal, but the sun wasn't entirely up yet. Whatever shadow possession technique sensei had, it would need more light to be effective. Knowing that, I reach for the bottle of soldier pills, and slide one into my hand. San growls, as two opponents appear before us.

"Let's finish off the brats before we leave." The woman is clearly the mission target...the man with her wearing the Kumo headband... _probably backup._ My mind supplies as Sensei rises to his feet, still swaying. The tree trunk he'd been leaning on is stained with blood, and for the first time since I'd tied on my headband, I knew we might actually die here.

"You'll get to my students through me." Sensei replies, and the man scoffs.

"What, you're half dead already. Maybe I'll finish you off" He's moving before he finishes the sentence. I don't have time to glance at either of my teammates. We just scatter in different directions. Tokuma and I end up in the same vicinity as Sensei clashes blades with the Kumo nin. Our mission target though, she'd gone after Muta. And he is blocking her tanto strikes with a kunai, his arms shaking with the exertion. A strike gets past his defenses, and he's suddenly on the ground as he holds his head.

San leaps in front of him and growls. "Not my pack." San is still growling when I toss him the soldier pill.

"Muta! Get out of the way!" With blood still roaring in my ears, I close my eyes and match my chakra with San's. We open our eyes and the enemy is in front of us. Caught between us. We leap. She's fast enough to evade us, because we aren't fast enough and we slam into a tree, but we're better than we were before, and we have our teammates right behind us. The tall white eyed one is using his fists and hands to defend the one with bugs. We are supposed to take out the target.

They'd made Sensei bleed. They'd make us all bleed if they could.

We couldn't see anything else. We are angry and we leap, this time not caring to spin. We had claws and teeth. We'd shred them if we could. Our jaws close on the target from behind and there's a tearing, a ripping, and a scream that cuts off in a gurgle and Tokuma's got his hands raised at the level of the woman's throat and I am not San and he is not me, but there's blood in my mouth just as I'm sure there's blood in his. Muta's kikaichu rise from the woman's hair, they must have been sucking chakra to slow her down, and the body thumps to the ground. I stare at Tokuma and Muta, and they stare back. _We've just killed someone._

"You bit her. With San." Toku says.

I crack a smile, and wipe the blood from my lips. The taste is still on my tongue, metallic enough that if I swallow, I'd gag on it. "You went to close the tenketsu in the throat, and Muta went for the drain chakra until she stops moving or dies."

Muta looks down at the body with wide, wide eyes, blood trickling down the side of his face. "Well, we have to make sure that the rest of our team's alright." In the absence of any sort of normality, we defaulted to the team rules. Never leave a teammate behind.

We look back to where we'd left Sensei. He is slumped against the tree holding a kunai to his own throat. The attacking man also had a kunai to his throat, but his mouth is spitting poison.

"Hanae's certain to have finished off those brats by now." Sensei's head is bowed, and his hair's come out of it's high tail so that it falls loosely around his face. I attempt to lunge at the man, but my left leg gives out on me as a stabbing pain shoots up my side.

"Hrrk." I collapse onto my knees and Ni comes to support my other side. There's a long gash up my calve that I hadn't even noticed, and it is dripping blood into the dry packed earth.

"Don't either of you move." Toku says, glancing back at Muta and me. "I'll take care of this." He determinedly gets out a kunai and holds it in front of him even as his hands tremble and his teeth chatters in his head. "You both are injured. I'm not. I'll take it."

"How long do you think you can keep holding this?" The man asks Sensei, and Sensei raises his head for the very first time since we had enough time to pay attention.

"Longer than Shikaku when the lives of my students are on the line." Sensei smiles sardonically at the man. "How long did you think your companion needed to kill off those brats of mine?"

Tokuma strides forwards, his hands still shaking, but his mouth set in a hard, hard line. "Those brats aren't dead." He raises the kunai and stabs it into the back of the man's leg, just behind the knee. A scream rises into the air, and Toku turns green but he pulls the kunai out and stabs it into the man's other knee for good measure. Then he very carefully sealed on the tenketsu in the man's arms and punches him once on the temple. The man is unconscious before he hits the ground. Sensei lowers the kunai at his own throat and looks back at us, all three of us. Muta and I having staggered back into the clearing.

Tokuma drops to his knees and starts retching although nothing comes up.

I want badly to join him, but Muta's shaking hand is offering me a canteen. "To rinse out your mouth with, Hana-chan." And I take it, and try to wash the taste of blood out of my mouth. It doesn't work, but it's the thought that counts.

Sensei doesn't rise, and I don't believe that it's because he's lazy. At important times, Sensei has never failed us, so I can only assume that it's because he can't.

"Status report?" He rasps, his head resting against the back of the tree, his eyes closed.

"The target is disposed of." Muta replies his hand still gripping the back of my shirt.

Tokuma coughs once. "The target not in the mission parameters is neutralized for the next half hour or so." He dry heaves again, and crawls over to us. "Sensei, what do we do?"

"There are bandages in my pack." Sensei gestures. "Look to your injuries."

Something in my heart screams in protest at this. "Ensui-sensei, what about your injuries?"

He opens an eye and glares at me. "They'll keep." And then his head slumps forwards and we know he's completely out of it.

I turn to Ichi. "Run back to Konoha to ask for back up." He looks at me, still cuddled between Ni and San and turns tail and races back in the direction that we'd come.

"How are the injuries?" Tokuma pulls out the rolls of bandages stored in Sensei's pouch.

"We should look at Sensei first." I offer. "He's the one that's passed out." Yes, there's still blood trickling down my leg, but it's not that bad of a wound now that I had time to think about it. It didn't sever anything major and it wasn't deep enough for me to see my bones. The fatigue is mostly from chakra exhaustion. The tight feeling in my chest because I may have been the one to just strike a killing blow, it was a team effort but no one really knew, and I had taken a bite out of someone, an enemy yes, but oh Kami.

The thought turns my stomach and I finally retch, as with Tokuma nothing comes up and I give myself half a minute to stop dry heaving.

* * *

We examined each other's injuries, and found Muta slightly concussed, and scratched by the woman's tanto, but neither poisoned nor in too much danger. Tokuma's mostly shaken, has some bruising from the blast, and is slightly in disbelief with his own violent conduct in an attempt to save ourselves and Sensei. I'm bruised, a little battered and chakra fatigued with a long scratch on my leg, but I'd also live without immediate medical attention. The real problem is Sensei.

We'd turned him over to find that not only had his back been burnt by the blast, but also that he is low on chakra, low on blood, and possibly poisoned by whatever weaponry the Kumo nin had managed to stick him with as his breathing is shallow and his pulse is irregular.

He needed help, and fast. We dressed and bandaged his visible wounds as quickly as we could-the effort mostly undertaken by Tokuma and me as Muta sits in a corner with his eyes closed trying not to pass out-in an effort to make sure that he didn't bleed out before help arrived.

The morning sun just makes everything seem more gruesome, our blood starkly painted against the backdrop of our pale faces and clammy hands.

* * *

Ichi bursts back into the clearing with footsteps on his heels. "Help is here!" He barks and then collapses in the dirt beside me, panting.

I pat his head. "You did a good job." The ninken that enters the clearing after Ichi though, that is truly surprising.

"Yo." I looked at the small pug, Pakkun it had to be Pakkun, in front of me with what must have been an unwelcoming face, because he looks distinctly annoyed. "You should feel my paws, they're very soft."

"I don't want to feel your paws." I grit from behind my grinding teeth. "Sensei is possibly dying, I just bit someone who is now dead, would you please just let your summoner know that-"

"Your team was the one assigned on this mission?" I look up to find Kakashi, well, I assume it's Kakashi, he has spiky silver hair and wears a hound mask, looking down at me as other ANBU fill the clearing.

"Yes. Now someone please help Sensei." _Why wouldn't they just listen?_

Kakashi scoops me up. "I'm assuming your partners can still run by themselves." Through the corner of my eye I see the rest of his ANBU team gather up Sensei, Muta, and the prisoner as well as the dead body while the ANBU supported Tokuma.

"They can." I reply, relaxing slightly now that it is certain we'd get back into the village in time to make sure Sensei didn't die.

"Was the mission a success?" He asks as we fly through the trees far faster than I could even hope to imagine for myself.

I glare at him. "I ripped a chunk or two out of her, Tokuma sealed a tenketsu point in her throat and Muta drained her chakra. I don't think she's alive anymore."

Kakashi stiffens. "Oh."

Nothing more is said even after we pass the gates of the village and Kakashi disappears as the medics roll Sensei deeper into the hospital. The rest of us, our injuries are the work of a few minutes and we are sent off to write our mission report.

* * *

"I-" Tokuma looks around the table at Muta and me. We're sitting in Mufu-an again, without Sensei, because he's still in the hospital. "I feel happy that we killed the person. I was viciously satisfied stabbing that man." He runs his hands through his hair and shudders.

"Well I was perfectly fine with ripping the woman apart with my teeth if it would stop her from killing you two." I offer, as internally I scream and wonder what I'm becoming. _How was I possibly satisfied with death? How? Why?_

Granted, the alternative would be to have my teammates and myself dead a few hours out of Konoha, but still.

"We're shinobi." Muta says, and prods his dim sum with ill grace. "We were always going to have to kill someone."

I swallow, and taste blood on my tongue. There's no blood there, but I taste it nevertheless. "Do you think Sensei will be alright?" I ask, and we turn towards that topic of conversation instead. No one wants to think about who had actually struck the killing blow. We want to think about something else.

"The medics did say he wasn't poisoned after all, just exhausted." Muta says. "They told me so while fixing my concussion."

"We could visit him with flowers?" Tokuma offers and at the word flowers I think of Kiho-baachan.

"Maybe we should go check on Kiho-baachan." I say and we look at each other, trying desperately hard not to see where blood had been just hours before, and get up to go.

"That's a good idea." Toku's subdued and without his usual energy.

Muta nods."Yes. That's a good idea."

We walk down the street, shoulders brushing with the Triplets behind us, and do not think about what had occurred. We'd talk it over another time.

* * *

 **A.N.** So first kill is over with, and a mission went kind of bad. (Not Team Seven levels of bad, but bad enough.)

Thanks for Sis, the Guests and Sam! Your reviews made my day!

As always, I'm open to your thoughts.

~Tavina.


	16. Team Training Arc: Four

**Dislclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Kiho-baachan?" I call out as we cross the threshold. The hallway is dark, and the lights aren't on in any of the rooms, but that didn't mean that she isn't home. Kiho-baachan preferred to live in the dark, which had to be symbolism, but there are too many ways to interpret how it might be, given that Baachan is married to a Nara, owns a flower garden, had light hair, and is a Yamanaka by birthright.

In fact, as we walk down the hallway, I hear the water running in the kitchen. Kiho-baachan is rinsing dishes by the sink in the light of a dying sun, but she turns towards us as we enter the kitchen.

"Oh, you're back." She shuts off the water. "Is the Waste of Space with you?" We all wince upon hearing Baachan's endearment for Sensei.

"Actually, Kiho-baachan." Tokuma begins, and I continue.

"Sensei's in the hospital, the Kumo nin got to him."

To her credit, Baachan doesn't drop a dish or pale upon hearing the news. Instead, she dries her hands on her apron and takes it off with a sigh. "Well, there was always the chance of that happening. Capture mission intel is famously spotty." She looks at us, at our muted subdued expressions and sets a hand on her hip. "Come now, cheer up, he's not in any danger of actually dying."

"That is correct, Kiho-baachan." Muta fidgets with a loose thread on one his sleeves. "The medics say that Sensei will get off with at most a few new scars."

"Well, that's all that he wanted. You all are safe. No one's dead. And I presume since no one has burst into tears yet, that the mission capture was successful." She herds us towards the kitchen table, and Toku pulls a chair out for her.

After a long examination through which we sit in silence, she props her elbows on the table and sighs. "Did something happen out there that you want to tell me about?"

"We killed the target." Toku blurts out, and then slaps a hand over his mouth.

"What Toku meant to say, is that..." I trail off, but no one says anything of note. "That we don't know who actually ended up killing the person."

Kiho-baachan nods with a new understanding in her eyes. "Let me guess, none of you feel guilty for actually contributing to the death." We nod. "That's perfectly normal. You are happy because you are alive, and your friends are alive, and your sensei is alive." She looks around at us, though it's already quite dark. "It's only when you seek out killing because the act of killing makes you happy that you need professional help. Don't be guilty that you killed the target before she could kill you."

Tokuma shudders. "I stabbed a man twice through his knees. I had to incapacitate him somehow before he killed Sensei."

"And you felt triumphant because you had the power to save someone precious to you." Kiho-baachan counters. "Not because he was in pain."

Tokuma nods. "I think I understand now."

Kiho-baachan smiles. "Well, let's go visit him in the hospital now, so I can joke about how he was nearly taken down by a pair of chunin."

The image of Sensei's grumpy face must have appeared to all of us at the same time because we burst out giggling.

* * *

"You bet your life on a group of genin?" Sensei's hospital room door is open, and the question that sneaks out of the open doorway makes all of us wince. _Yes, we were stupidly lucky and so not ready for that fight, but everyone's still alive._

"Ino-niisan, I bet my life on my students. Not any random group of three genin, the three that I've taught for nearly a year now. That has to mean something to you, doesn't it?" Sensei's voice is placid, but there's a dangerous edge to it. _So that's Kiho-baachan's older brother? Ino-niichan according to her._

"What were you thinking?" The other man roars back. "You could have all been killed. How could you have let something this stupid happen?" There's a sharp intake of breath, and the man continues yelling. "I thought you had a brain, Nara! Use it or you'll leave my sister a widow."

Kiho-baachan straightens up and marches through the door. "Shut up, Niichan before I decide to punch you." She gestures for us to come in, and turns a saccharine smile on Sensei who's still in the bed. "Look what I brought you, _Darling_." From across the bed, she shoots Yamanaka Inoichi a poisonous look. "Don't mind my dear brother, ducklings. He won't hurt you."

 _Wait. Kiho-baachan is Ino's aunt?_ Looking back it is a little obvious, but still, Naruto had never mentioned that Ino _had_ an aunt.

"It's lovely to see you too, _Honey Bun_." It seems that in front of his brother-in-law Sensei didn't dare call Kiho-baachan 'Vicious hag.'

"Kiho-chan, please." Kiho-baachan ignores Inoichi's attempts to talk to her.

"Oh Darling, did the big bad chunins hurt you too bad?" She presses a hand to her heart in a fit of dramatics, and bats her eyes at Sensei who was well on his way to turning scarlet. "Do you need help walking, a glass of water?"

"Oh, please stop that." Sensei mumbles and looks at us. "No one was hurt too badly right? No scars?"

We nod. "Everyone's fine except you, Sensei." I sit down on the other side of his bed. "Kakashi's team brought us back."

Sensei raises both eyebrows at this. "Kakashi?" _Right, no one knows that I know Hatake Kakashi._

"Erm..." I say and try to figure out how to explain this. "I dragged him to my house and fed him hangover cure at one point?"

Sensei nods. "That's very interesting, Hana-chan. You'll have to tell me more about it."

I feel a shiver crawl down my spine. Something told me that Sensei would pull out the Papa Bear impersonation with a hapless scarecrow very soon.

* * *

After that disconcerting conversation with a bed ridden Sensei while doing my best to ignore a sulking Inoichi in the corner, I head home. Home to Kiba and Kaa-san and Cousin Ashi and Cousin Gaku. Home to family.

Kiba's telling me a very interesting story about his toes, a can of paint and the neighborhood cat when Kaa-san comes back. "Oh, Hana, I heard your mission was..."

"It was an experience." I respond.

Kiba's eyes went wide. "Nee-chan had a mission?" He scoots closer and stares at me with stars in his eyes. "Nee-chan fights bad ninja?"

I feel a twinge of something. "Yes, I fought bad ninja." _In fact, Nee-chan took a bite or two out of a bad ninja today, Kiba._

"But that's so cool." He says, and I bop him on the head.

"It's not cool or very fun." Better that he hears it early than late. Better that he knows what's going on.

"But that means Nee-chan is super strong." He pats me on the arm. "The bad ninja are always super strong and you won, so you must be stronger."

I swallow, and my mouth is thick with blood again. "It was a group effort, Kiba-chan." I pick him up and walk towards the kitchen with Kaa-chan. "You have to work with your teammates." Hopefully, his future teammates would indeed be Shino and Hinata, both of whom were easy to work with and would have his back. "That's what shinobi from Konoha do."

He nods and clambers onto his chair. "I'm going to be just like Nee-chan and fight bad ninja and do cool things." He announces this all in one breath before he shoves a large piece of meat into his mouth and chews like a chipmunk.

And I am not sorry that I have to live with the taste of blood in my mouth if it means that I'm coming home to my brother who thinks that I hung the sun and stars.

* * *

After dinner, Kaa-san puts Kiba to bed despite his vibrating energy at wanting to hear the story of the so called 'bad ninja.' She comes back to sit with me on the couch. "You don't look to good, Little Nose."

I shrug. "We killed someone, and I'm alright with that. I talked to Kiho-baachan and Sensei about it." I turn to look at Kaa-san who doesn't look worried, just slightly concerned. "And Sensei and Muta was injured, Toku was traumatized because he became kind of violent about incapacitating the other assailant."

Kaa-san's facial features smooth out a little. "So what's the problem, pup?"

I feel tears pricking at the corners of my eyes. Kaa-san hadn't called me pup since I graduated from the academy. "I bit her." I say, and feel her arms around me. I raise a hand to grip her shirt like I'm three years old instead of seven and a half going on twenty five. "And I can still taste the blood in my mouth and I don't know what to do."

"That's the problem with being an Inuzuka, pup. You get the short end of the stick with that." Kaa-san rubs my back. "It'll get better." _You'll get used to it._ "It'll get better once you can be certain of why you're killing." _It'll be better if you know what your purpose is._

I nod. "Alright."

* * *

The next morning I take Kiba with me into the flea market, so we can shop for sweets. "Hey, Nee-chan."

I look down at him. "What is it?"

He looks up at me with a surprising amount of seriousness in his dark eyes. "Do we have an Otou-san?"

I freeze. _He doesn't remember anything about Tou-san at all. Tou-san died before he was even born._ "Of course we do, Kiba-chan. Why'd you ask?" I keep my tone light as I hand over a few ryo for the lemon candies that Kiba and I both adore.

"Well." He says as he unwraps the hard candy and pops it into his mouth. "Other kids have Otou-sans that come home at night, you know." He checks to make sure that I'm listening, and I assure him that indeed I am. "But we don't. He doesn't come back." Suddenly his eyes light up and he gestures wildly. "Is Tou-san on a super secret mission that takes forever? Is that why he's never home?"

I sigh. "No, Kiba-chan." I say as I pick him up and swing him onto my shoulders. "That's not why he's not at home."

He unwraps a candy for me and sticks it against my mouth. "For Nee-chan."

I open my mouth and he sticks it in. "Thanks, Kiba-chan." I try to figure out how to best explain our situation in a way that he'd understand. "You know, Kiba-chan. Tou-san's actually always at home. You just can't see him." His hands come to rest in my hair, and they twist every which way as he tries to understand. It's actually quiet painful, but he doesn't know that, and I haven't the heart to stop him. "We can visit him today if you'd like." I offer, and he cheers.

"Yeah! We should do that!"

I turn back towards the compound and pick up the pace. If we were going to go see Tou-san, we might as well find all the pictures there were of him in the house.

* * *

An hour later, I hold Kiba's hand as we walk down the path to the family cemetery. "But this place is for old people." Kiba whispers as he scrunches up his nose. "Like Oji-san and Kosshi-baa."

"Not everyone who's watching us is old, Kiba-chan." I prod his cheek, and pull him towards the back. "Tou-san's here too."

There'd been more burials since Tou-san's funeral, but he held a row all to himself. "Hello Tou-san." I say, and somehow looking at this isn't as painful as it used to be. "Kiba-chan and I are here to see you." I place the lilies down in the cup reserved for flowers. "I think he'll be a great ninja when he grows up."

Kiba tugs at my pants leg. "Nee-chan." He whispers. "Nee-chan?" He seems almost hesitant but I don't know why it would be.

"Hmm?" It is better not to ask what's wrong. There might not even be anything wrong.

"Tou-san's _dead_?" His eyes are as round as saucers.

I nod and pull out a picture. "This is what Tou-san looks like."

Kiba stares at the blond-haired man in the picture, at the grave stone, at me and then at his own hands. "We look lots like Kaa-san." He says at last, sitting down on the ground.

I tap him on the end of his nose. "We have his nose though."

Kiba looks back at me. "Nee-chan looks more like him."

I hug him. "He loves us very much."

Kiba wriggles even closer as if trying to stick himself to me. "M not mad that he's not home now." I pat his shoulder. "But Nee-chan's still best." He whispers and I squeeze him just a little harder than normal.

"I'm glad you're not mad anymore. Tou-san would be here with us if he could."

* * *

We walk out to the park later, because Kiba is set on building in a sandcastle and that isn't something we could do at home. And even though I'd run around Konoha by myself at his age, I didn't trust my little brother to go alone. Kiba is Kiba, and he isn't an old soul in a young body. He's actually just a two and a half year old. He's sitting on my shoulders again as we trot down the street.

He pulls another candy from his pockets, and waves it in front of me. "For Nee-chan."

I poke his cheek. "You know you shouldn't eat so many of these. You'll rot your teeth if you do that, and then they'd turn black and fall out."

He squeaks. "But this one's for Nee-chan!" I open my mouth to protest and he sticks it in my mouth instead. "See, it's Nee-chan's teeth that'll be rotting now." I chuckle. _If he isn't so generous and constantly feeding me candy, I'd have a hard time giving him any candy at all._

I turn the corner and set him down at the edge of the park. "I'll go over and sit on the swing, alright?"

He nods furiously. "Nee-chan should come over and see my sand castle when I'm done!" I nod and ruffle his hair, which is honestly much more fun to ruffle than mine and he tries to slap my hands away. "Don't do that." After I'm done he attempts to straighten out his unruly locks. "We don't match anymore when that happens."

"We'll always match here." I say as I poke his adorably chubby cheeks. "We have the clan birthmarks remember. We'll always match."

He breaks out into a face splitting smile and races off to the sand pit. "Don't forget to come and look at my sandcastle, Nee-chan!"

I laugh and nod. Then I make my way over to sit on the swings.

* * *

"Nee-chan! Nee-chan!" Kiba's racing at me as fast as his short legs could carry me, and for the first time in a while, I'm seeing him furious. "Nee-chan you've gotta come over."

I hop off the swing and scoop him up. "What's the matter, Kiba-chan?"

He's gesturing wildly at this point and nearly smacks me in the face, but I catch his fist in time. "There's a real meanie by the sand pit and he says that you aren't the best Nee-chan in the world 'cause he's got a Niisan that's better and-"

 _Oh boy._ I think. _There's so many ways that this could go wrong._ Nevertheless, I am a little curious about the little boy who thought that he had a better elder sibling than me. "Well, let's go back to the sand pit and I'll build you a better castle, alright?" Sure, maybe using a tiny bit of earth chakra to make those sand turrets more stable would be cheating, but I still had my pride as an elder sibling.

"Yeah!" Kiba cheers. "We'll make the best castle ever!"

The two boys with the Uchiwa on their shirts were not who I was expecting when Kiba told me there were meanies.

"Itachi-kun?" I ask, and he turns around with a smile.

"Hello Hana-chan." _Oh, well, sorry Kiba. I'm not sure if I can compare to the famous Niisan of legend._

"Kiba-chan said that someone thought I wasn't a good sibling?" I ask, as I sit down.

Kiba wriggles out of my arms and smacks at the sandpit causing a part of Sasuke's tower to fall down.

Sasuke crosses his arms and glares at my little brother. "I already told you, Niisan's better cause he's a ninja."

Kiba growls and swipes away the rest of Sasuke's tower. "Well Nee-chan's also a ninja and she's better than anyone, so there." Kiba crosses his arms as well and scowls fiercely at Sasuke.

"Kiba-chan..." I whisper while leaning down to tickle him. "Don't be mad."

He turns to me with betrayal in his eyes. "But you are the best Nee-chan in the world!"

I laugh. "But you see, Sasuke doesn't have a Nee-chan. He has a Niisan. That's different." And then I look over at Sasuke and Itachi. "Can we call a truce on the debate?"

Sasuke frowns, but Itachi pokes his forehead. "Say yes, Otouto. Hana's a friend."

We share a fleeting smile, but our little brothers seem to have declared a mutual hatred and refused to pay any attention to each other. _Well, I'll take what I can get at this point._

* * *

 **A.N.** And now we cool down from the panic of last chapter and we debrief.

Thanks to Sis, Snidekick and Shy911 for reviewing! You all are great!

Don't worry Snidekick, Pakkun will show up later, I happen to have a soft spot for him.

And Shy911, I feel your pain. Math homework has always fried my brain as well.

~Tavina.


	17. Team Training Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I most likely never will.**

* * *

"In position." I whisper as we stare down at the sleeping camp of enemy shinobi with Ichi at my side. We'd tracked the group of low level nuke-nin that had been hassling merchant caravans in the area down to this camp and two other camps.

"In position." Tokuma whispers. We'd been outfitted with radios this time around because we'd split up to track the different groups as individual skill tests before converging on the biggest camp for a nighttime visit. Tokuma is on my right then.

"I as well." Muta sighs across the connection. "I've got my kikaichu on them sucking them dry, so these should be easy deaths." We must have shuddered simultaneously at the thought.

The last time we'd been involved in a death it had been life or death. We were going to die if we didn't do something.

This time? This time we were sitting in the trees plotting cold blooded murder.

We slip down into the camp as silent as ghosts, Ichi padding beside me sniffing at the first man we came to. His sleep is deep and undisturbed, most likely due to kikaichu on his skin. I pull out a kunai and hold it across his throat.

 _He has killed before._ My mind whispers, thinking back to the day they'd brought Ritsu's body back to Konoha. A genin death during peacetime is a heavy blow to the morale of the village. _He will kill again._ One quick slash across the throat and it will not be so.

But another voice rises, from years and years of living in a different culture. _So will you. You have killed before. And you will kill again._ My hand moves and the blood that flows in the moonlight is almost black.

 _But I have my brother to think of, and the rest of my family. This I choose_. I think, and the metallic taste of raw flesh crawls up my throat. I straighten, and do the same to the man's neighbor without hesitation this time.

Six sealed bodies later, we stow away the scrolls, and leap back up into the trees as silently as we'd come.

* * *

Sensei is waiting for us in our designated meeting place, his own scrolls, hanging like fish from a line, dangled at his fingertips. He looks over us once. "This was a better choice than that terrible chase." His lips quirk into a crooked smirk. "It just goes to show that we all fail in one way or another."

We look at each other, and do not say a word. It's clear from my teammates' pale faces that the boys hadn't an easier time of killing again despite the months that had passed since our disastrous second C-Rank.

"If any of you ever want to talk, know that I'll be open to it whether you are still my student or not." Sensei glances around at us once more. "Scatter."

We turn and begin the jog back into Konoha.

* * *

I sat in my usual personal training ground. There are only four hand signs necessary for the Earth Release: Mud Wall Jutsu, but it is a B-Ranked Jutsu for a reason. The chakra cost is tremendous. With my reserves I could at most make two walls of chest height and hold Fang Passing Fang for about thirty seconds, anything further would push chakra exhaustion.

Never the less, Tou-san had left me the scroll for a reason. I make the four hand signs. Tiger. Hare. Boar. Dog. And slam my hands onto the ground. The wall that rises in front of me has the audacity to wobble. I glare at it, and then kick it down.

"Is it not enough chakra? Not enough something or other?" I ask the sky as I stomp on the mud that is mostly useless.

"Maa." I turn to look at the source of the sign and find Kakashi leaning against a tree. "You'll never get anywhere like that.

" I throw up my hands. "Well, I've been trying this for two months now, and the only time it works is when I am convinced that I'd die without it." _And that only happened because Sensei decided that I should be kicked around until I didn't want to be a punching bag anymore. Then, trying to get Sensei to do anything that involves physical exertion when he's not on a mission is nearly impossible._

"And what caused you to think that you'd die, Hana-chan?" He asks, somehow making the statement seem obnoxious even though it is clearly well intentioned.

I frown at him with my arms crossed against my chest. "My lazy Sensei kicking me around, because he's actually a taijutsu genius." I spit, and scuff my toe against the remnants of what used to be an attempt at jutsu.

Kakashi stops leaning against the tree and walks over. "Well, actually you could do-"

"What are you doing out of the hospital?" I point at the growing stain on his right side. _If I'm not mistaken, then that's actually blood. He's not in the normal Jonin gear either. It's probably an ANBU mission, but I'm not supposed to know about that._ "Oh, actually let me guess, you didn't even report to the hospital."

"There's no need for concern, Hana-chan." He eye smiles at me, but it's worse than if he didn't smile at all. _I mean it's so fake that I don't even need to pay attention. I just know that it's plastic._ "I won't be dead any time soon."

"Either way," I say, because if he didn't want me to see anything, I probably wouldn't have. There is some sort of importance to letting me see his wounds, but for the life of me, I don't really know what it means, except perhaps Kakashi didn't interact enough with other people considering we don't even know each other very well. "That just means that you shouldn't be attempting to show me a better mud wall than I'd be able to make even if I worked for years."

"I was about to offer, but I do suppose you'll be fine on your own." He makes to amble off, but I grab the back of his shirt. He turns to look at me with an unimpressed look on his face.

"I was just about to say that you shouldn't walk alone when you're injured."

He hmms for a moment, but doesn't immediately run away. Instead he lets me walk with him. "You aren't going to ask that I go to the hospital?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Would you go if I asked?" He shakes his head, and I continue. "Well, I wouldn't be able to drag you there by force anyway, so I might as well walk you back to wherever you were going to ease my own conscience."

"Why would it be your problem?" He tilts his head back and we continue walking together. He lived rather far from center city, and also rather far from the path from the Hokage Tower to my training ground.

"Well, if the legendary Hatake Kakashi dropped dead after seeing me, there'd be an inquest." I stare at my hands and laugh. "It would be a death I wasn't responsible for, and it would look bad on my record."

"You've been responsible for different deaths then?"

I nod. "Aah." I've killed three people by now. one woman trying to her level best to kill me, and two barely genin sleeping men. I look at Kakashi through narrowed eyes. "Has Sensei been talking to you?"

He rubs the back of his head. "How would you know about that?"

I sigh. "Because I know Sensei, and he went into Papa Bear Mode when he realized that I knew who you were." Kakashi pulls open a door.

I'm greeted by the smell of wet dog, which somehow seems much like home anyway.

"Anyway." Kakashi tips through the door and I catch him. _He's heavy. Or well, heavier than that time I dragged him back home._ "Don't look so upset, Hana-chan."

I glare at him. "You're heavy, Kakashi-san." He looks almost hurt, but I will have none of it. "You are Kami-damned heavy, Kakashi-san. I am eight years old."

"Well, you were the one who wanted to walk me home, Hana-chan."

I huff and dump him on a chair. "You're awful, Kakashi-san."

* * *

"Kakashi-san?" I ask as I poke through his refrigerator. "Are you sure you have any food in here at all?" He'd done a rather neat job of bandaging his side, but is still moving like an old man, probably because he is chakra exhausted. I am mildly confused that he's let me poke around in his life for this long, but I chalk it up to the fact that he hasn't had enough years to calcify into an actual impersonal troll.

"Um..maybe?" He doesn't sound sure at all.

I cross my arms and turn around to face him. "And you said I wouldn't grow big and strong because I like to eat convenience store onigiri." I gesture back at his fridge. "You'll become a midget at this rate." I stomp towards the door. "I'm going to find some real food."

 _The nerve of him. Honestly. Would it kill him to go grocery shopping? Would it? Does he even know what a food pyramid is?_

* * *

I pick out a good number of easy to cook vegetables and fruits. At the dairy aisle, I pick up a quarter gallon of milk and then I snag a loaf of bread and a pound of beef as well. Perhaps I go a little overboard, but in this life I've never lacked for money. I pass the dog food aisle, and consider it. Pakkun had been rude, but there's no need to be rude back. _If I'm going to feed the human I might as well feed the dog._

Everything I bought at a grocery store or a butcher went on the family tab. I'd use a C-Rank pay check to pay off the debt I incurred today. By the time I'm done with shopping, I have three full bags of groceries and I take to the roofs. The perks of being an actual ninja is that I don't ever need to navigate the crowded streets as a rather small child anymore.

I pound on his door until he actually opens the thing and shove the food through the door. "You should buy more fruits and vegetables in about a week." I say as I stick most of the food I bought on various shelves of his sad, sad, refrigerator. He probably doesn't use the pantry either. I leave out the pound of beef and several tomatoes though. "Do you have a cutting board?"

Kakashi's still staring at me wordlessly, and I feel as though if he didn't wear a mask, his mouth would be slightly ajar by this point. "Oh forget it." I shake my head and pull out a kunai to cut everything up. "You probably don't even know what that is."

* * *

We end up eating a late lunch. He doesn't pull the mask down in my presence, but it must have tasted alright given that I'd laid out dog food for the eight dogs that suddenly appear from another room, and he inhaled an entire bowl of beef stew in the same time period.

"You're the snappy dog girl."

I frown at Pakkun. "You aren't taking very good care of your human."

He does have the decency to look ashamed. "We're dogs."

I roll my eyes at him. "Ichi, Ni, and San wouldn't let me keep nothing except a sad looking dead carrot in my fridge if it was the last thing they did." I rise and brush the dust off my shorts. "Well, there's nothing I need to do here, and I still have to meet a friend for a spar, so I'll be going." I make sure to glare at Kakashi as I step through his doorway. "Remember to actually eat food, Kakashi-san. You need to grow up big and strong after all."

Perhaps the last statement triggers an episode and pushes too far, because there's a kunai embedded in the doorway an inch from my head that I pull free an instant after.

* * *

I'm halfway back to my training ground when I realize that there's a note wrapped around the handle of the kunai. _Maybe he wasn't being touchy after all?_

"You're overcompensating yang chakra in your jutsu. Elemental chakra is perfectly balanced yin yang." And then underneath that, "Thank you." And a henohenomoheji. _Oh, he actually wasn't being touchy. He was being appreciative Kakashi-style_. _I wish it didn't involve being scared halfway into the grave though._

I wave at Itachi as I draw closer to the clearing. "Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to save a scarecrow from starvation." His eyebrows draw closer in what I recognize is confusion and I have to clarify. _What am I? Obito? Kakashi?_ "Kakashi-san knows nothing about nutrition."

If anything, it just seems to make Itachi more confused. "Kaka...shi?"

I shake my head. "Just forget about it, Itachi-kun." I slide into a taijutsu stance that I'd seen Toku and Koma mirror so many times. "Let's spar."

He blurs and I spin around to catch his kunai strike. We trade a flurry of blows, and then I leap backwards giving myself a little space. I see Itachi make the hand signs for the Great Fireball, and I flash through four hand signs of my own.

"Doton: Earth Wall!" I slam my hands on the ground and the wall that rises above me holds even as tongues of flame spill over the top close enough for me to feel their heat.

I'm too elated by the success of the jutsu and that distracts me enough for Itachi to substitute himself behind me and place a kunai against my throat.

"I yield." I say, absently, still marvelling at the solid chest height wall that'd not taken as much chakra as before. _It's so much more efficient now. And I thought I was a genius. It's clearly nothing on an actual genius._

"-Hana-chan?" I look up at Itachi. He's looking down at me with concern. "Is there something wrong?"

I laugh. "No, everything's fine, Itachi-kun." I straighten, and pull the chakra I'd put in the wall back. The wall crumbles sure, and there's a fine cloud of dust rising which I brush off of my shorts, but yes, everything is more than fine. "I just finally made an advancement in Doton jutsus, that's all."

"Oh, congratulations." He sounds subdued so I make an impromptu suggestion.

"Did you want to go for dango?" I suppose being friends with Itachi made it hard to avoid dango in one's daily life, but I happened to like other sweets besides rice dumplings.

"No, it's alright." He shakes his head. "Sasuke is upset that I don't spend enough time with him." I wince. _It looks like I wasn't able to help with that bit._

 _But if Itachi doesn't have to kill his clan then they'll grow up better. Then Sasuke and Itachi can be just as close as they were supposed to be before everything got shot to hell._

"Hey, Itachi?" I ask, and shove my hands in pockets, a mirror of Sensei's lazy slouch.

"Yes?" He slows his pace towards the Uchiha district, letting me fall in step beside him.

"How are the work hours in the Military Police?" I'd been reviewing my options for employment after making Chunin. And I had found that there aren't many in village options that aren't desk jobs. _I have no desire to teach anything to actual children. The Academy teachers have the patience of saints. No manning the mission desk, either. Not cut out for Torture and Interrogation. No desire to work in Intel._

"Otou-san works from about seven in the morning until seven at night, but he doesn't hold regular shift hours." Itachi tilts his head back to look at the sky. "There aren't many non-Uchiha down at the station." _Ah yes, the only caveat in the road to my job. There aren't all that many members of the Force that aren't Uchiha._

"That doesn't mean I can't apply right? I mean," I say, as he turns his dark eyes at me with so many questions. "There are military police officers that are not Uchihas."

"But why would you want to?" He doesn't get it.

I sigh. "I told you before, I don't think I'm cut out for the Hunter Nin Squad."

"Right." We walk on in silence for another block. "I'll ask Otou-san about it for you, and some of the other regular officers to see what their work hours are like." _It's generous..._ And I am suddenly struck by how utterly _different_ the eight year old Itachi is compared to his older self. Eight year old Itachi is kind and selfless, he loves his brother, and at times he is happy.

Twenty one year old Itachi had been a guilt ridden mess of duty and pain with an extra dose of sadism and fear on the side. He had been hell bent on committing suicide by brother to pay for his sins.

 _The orders for the massacre must have broken him much worse than anything he could have found on the frontlines of a war._ Of course they had, of course, but I could only see how scarred he'd become. The image is scary, superimposed as it is on the boy beside me.

"Thank you, Itachi." I say. _I'll pay you back for this. I swear it to you. I will change your destiny. I will._ I smile at him. "I don't think you know how much you've helped." _Me, you, your brother, your clan, this village._

 _I have to save him. But first, I have to make chunin._

* * *

 **A.N.** And now we get a bit more motivation. I guess we'll see where it goes.

Thanks to Shy911, Snidekick, WhiteFang001, and Guest for reviewing! You all are fantastic.

And of course, thanks to everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina


	18. Suna Chunin Exams Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"So that was why Muta-nii was so upset when he got home." I'm sitting with Hisae in one of the kikaichu houses on the Aburame compound.

While the kikaichu did live in host bodies most of them lived in the 'hive' commonly known as the kikaichu houses inside the compound. Tending to the hives is a big part of the job for Aburame Clan members pre-Academy, and many of them still did so well into their shinobi career.

Muta tells me that he finds it therapeutic.

Hisae is the unofficial keeper of this particular part of the hive, where light didn't reach except through very thin windows. New larvae are kept in trays and fed thrice daily, which is incidentally what she is doing right now. I stay on the outside, because that many bugs did tend to make me mildly uncomfortable. I have nothing against bugs, but I am self aware enough to realize when I am not comfortable.

"Yes, I imagine that the concussion didn't help his perception of the event." I offer.

Hisae hums and the adult kikaichu chirp in response. "I don't know if I want to become a shinobi, Hana-neesan."

The statement catches me by surprise. "Why is that?"

She shrugs and splashes chakra-enhanced water onto the bottom of an empty tray and then scoops handfuls of larvae onto the food supply. The thought of doing it myself made me cringe slightly, but she doesn't seem to have noticed. "I don't think that I'd like to kill anyone, and I'm not as strong as Muta-nii." I

consider her words. They spoke to me, because I had had the same doubts when deciding to become a shinobi. It was only that I couldn't afford the luxury of not being one that had pushed me towards the Academy at all. "You should choose what you think is best, Hisae-chan." _At least one of us should get to choose without a threat hanging over our heads._ She turns to look at me through her opaque glasses and I continue. "It's a hard choice you're making. No one should have the power to make it for you."

She nods and pulls out the next tray. "Thank you, Hana-neesan." The line of her shoulders is looser now, and I realize that we're closer in age than I thought. _She's only two years younger than me._ And then, _do the Aburame feel as though their children ought to be shinobi? Is that why she's so tense about the whole affair?_

Hisae rinses her hands and comes to sit with me out on the steps. "Hana-neesan." She says, her gaze fixed on some far off, distant point. "I'm glad you're on Muta-nii's team." She sighs. "I don't think there will be anyone like you in my Academy class-" _What? A soul from another dimension? Sorry Hisae-chan, you're out of luck on that one._ "-and I don't want someone who thinks bugs are weird on my team, you know?"

"I think if that's what you're concerned about, you should consider going." I pause for a moment to organize my thoughts. "You might be pleasantly surprised, and if not, you weren't going to the Academy for them anyway, and you wouldn't be a shinobi for their opinion of you, you'd be a shinobi for yourself."

She nods, and we rise to walk down to her house for dinner.

* * *

"Hah!" I've finally landed a hit on Toku after over fifteen minutes of intense back and forth. He's probably still the best of us at pure taijutsu even though Muta and I aren't bad. We both had partners to focus on and work with after all. Toku spent most of his time sparring with various Hyuga clan members when we weren't in team training, so it is to be expected.

Unfortunately for me and my elation, I'd been unconsciously mimicking his jyuken posture during that particular strike. Since I don't know anything about the chakra portion of Jyuken and I hadn't really been supplementing my own muscles with all that much chakra, I'd basically just slapped him across the face. It probably hurt about as much as being slapped with a fish.

He blinks, and just flat out stops for a full moment as if trying to figure out if being slapped is supposed to hurt. Knowing Hyugas it probably did most of the time. I lunge forward as he's still distracted and punch him in the stomach. _One of Sensei's greatest maxims, Toku. Hit the enemy when you have an opening. It doesn't matter how the opening occurs. Take advantage of it._

"She did break past your defenses that time, otouto." Koma-senpai, who'd been watching our fight from the sidelines to give pointers later stands smiling over Toku who is still attempting to catch his breath.

"Hrggh, _Hana_ , never again." Toku pants with his hands on his knees. "I thought I was safe from the punches of doom."

A peal of laughter rings out through the yard and we turn to see Haya-senpai demurely covering her smile with a wide kimono sleeve. "Come in for refreshments, please." She gestures towards sweets on the low table underneath the overhang and moves to pick up the scroll she'd been reading. Hyuga Haya isn't a front line specialist, in fact, for a Hyuga, she's downright not combat oriented at all as a medic who specialized in treating organ failure.

Her twin though, the eighteen year old Koma, I suspect to be in ANBU.

Hyuga Koma is the pride and joy of his immediate family, although not the favorite of his clan, because that honor isn't reserved for branch clan children, but none of them actually mentioned what he _did._ He never wore short sleeves even during particularly humid summer days and kept really irregular hours for someone who isn't at least a well respected jonin.

Whether or not he's in ANBU though, Koma-senpai is probably better adjusted than eighty five percent of the shinobi forces in general.

* * *

We're sitting by the table consuming mochi while Haya-senpai reads aloud from her medical text regarding the chakra network within the human liver, when Sensei comes to call. "Well, the exams are happening in Suna this time around." He says as he places the papers on the table. "I needn't remind you both that it's a team effort, or it's nothing."

I take a moment to mentally thank Sensei for not being a troll.

"What did Muta say about it?" Toku asks as he pulls the forms across the table and hands me one. I scan it while listening to Sensei. _It seems like a normal consent form and all for a ninja._

"Muta is here to tell you about what he says about it." Muta deadpans and jabs Toku in the shoulder. "Those famous all seeing eyes don't seem to see things right in front of them."

I sigh. "Toku, do you really think Sensei wants us to commit by ourselves and then tell each other about it later?"

Toku rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest. "Well, in my defense, I'm stupid because I just got the stuffing punched out of me."

I stick my tongue out at him. "It's your fault for being overcome with wonder at a non-Hyuga slap."

We rib each other good naturedly for a little while more before deciding to meet for team practice tomorrow with a decision.

* * *

That evening, Kaa-san and I sit down at the kitchen table, and I slide the form over to her. "Sensei thinks we're ready." I say nothing more. If Kaa-san didn't want me to go, then I wouldn't be going. _But for Itachi,_ I think. _If I do go, I must make chunin. If I do go, I have to become better than I am right now. I made him a promise._

"Well, if you have to go sometime in the next few years, Suna would be the best place for that besides Konoha." Kaa-san muses. "And Konoha comes up in rotation in another two years. I don't think you want to wait that long."

I nod. Another two years would make me ten, with just over three years until the massacre occurred. I want to know why Uchiha Fugaku planned a coup the first time around. To do that I had to be close to him. _In fact, it's highly problematic that I'm not older._

"I want to go." I say, and I see Kaa-san swallow, hard.

"Promise me that if you think you might die at any point, that you'll forfeit the match, Hana." She looks me in the eye and I'm struck once more by how much she loves me, unflinchingly and without question. _Is Itachi more important than Kaa-san?_

"I promise, Kaa-san. I'll be as safe as I can." I've made a decision, but I don't really know what it is.

We fill out the form together, and I set it aside, underneath my weapons pouch and trudge down the hallway to my bedroom.

* * *

That night, I lie on my bed with the Triplets all around me like three fluffy blankets. Fairly soon we would have to do something like this on the floor, because they wouldn't all fit on the bed any longer.

My head is cushioned by Ichi's stomach, and I've got San and Ni's furry paws underneath my hands. I tap them absentmindedly as I hum under my breath.

"We're going to the chunin exams." I say, and I feel their excitement humming in my own soul as well.

"We're good." Ichi comments, and I hmm.

"We are."

"You thought about the Uchiha boy a lot." San comments and I raise my head to look at him.

"Are you sad that it happens?"

Ni huffs. "The Uchiha boy smells like rust and steel. He's not what you look for when you think of home."

I roll his words over in my mind. _Not what you look for when you think of home._ "I don't think I want to make my home with him." I say at last, and I almost feel Ni's aching relief. _I want to change his destiny, not live with him forever._

"That's good." Ichi says. "Both of your teammates would make better homes."

I stare at him with bemused fondness. "Are you suggesting that I think about finding a human _partner_?"

Ichi growls and walks around so he can flop down on my stomach. "No."

"We're your partners!" Ni and San bark, frantically trying to figure out how to phrase their own articulations about how much I mean to them, and I can only hope to understand the whirlwind of sound and smells and touches, the smell of food in the morning, a hand trailing through their fur, a childish giggle, wrestling in the summer sun, the taste of lemon candy, sweat and determination and blood and kin and matched chakra and soul.

"Of course you are." I say, and pull them both down for a very fuzzy doggie pile. "That'll never change." It soothes them a bit, and the bombardment of various emotions suddenly comes to a standstill.

* * *

"So your team isn't going to this chunin exam?" Itachi and I are taking a walk down the river, and the Triplets had been encircling me so much that he had to walk about an arm's length away.

When I'd greeted him that morning, he'd been confused, but at this point in the day he seemed to just accept it at face value.

"No." He has his hands in his pockets, and looks bitterly disappointed, which only really showed in the tiny frown and a deepening of the lines on his face. "Temma and Shinko aren't ready. Their chances of survival would be low if they went." Unspoken goes the fact that Itachi himself would probably have little problem with surviving a chunin exam.

"I'm sure they'll be ready soon." I say, because he is so clearly concerned about their welfare, but I don't want to dwell on what I have and what he does not. "How is Sasuke?"

Itachi brightens up at this. "He's able to play hide and seek very well now, and I've started to teach him to read." Then his face falls again. "Tou-san doesn't spend enough time with him." And then, further still, and he goes very quiet. "I don't think I've ever thought Tou-san was wrong before, but I don't like how he doesn't spend time with Sasuke." _And yet again, I don't understand the enigma that is Uchiha Fugaku._

Back when he'd come to pick his children up after the Kyuubi Incident he'd been concerned for Izumi despite not knowing her well, but now spending time with his own younger son is a hassle to him. He'd been determined to make sure that as many civilians survived October tenth as possible, loyal to the village to a fault, but five years from now he'd plan a coup that would force his elder son to kill him and their entire extended family.

Uchiha Fugaku made no sense the first time I'd met him as a character and he made even less sense as a real person.

"I'm sorry." I say to Itachi, because what else can I say? _I'm as confused about your father as you are, and possibly more so because I understand nothing about his motives and his actions that will lead to his early demise at your hands? Yes, I'm sure that will go over very very_ _well._

We don't have much time to discuss anything in the month afterwards. I spend most of my time in team training, and less than a month later, Team Six plus En-sensei is on the road to Suna.

* * *

Nothing prepared me for the temperature disparities between night and day in a desert. Fire Country's weather in general, is mild and not prone to extremes. Here in the desert however, temperatures soared in the daytime and plummeted at night.

And then, there is the sand. Sand got everywhere during our trek towards Suna proper. It chafed between my foot and my open toed sandal. It got into my hair and frequently into my eyes. The Triplets whined that it got into their noses and hurt terribly. I ate it with our sealed ration bars, because obviously plastic wouldn't stop sand. I felt as though I breathed it in and it rattled around in my lungs with every breath I took.

In short, before we even got to Suna, I am already sick and tired of the situation, and it made me rude and snappy with everyone else.

* * *

"Welcome to Sunagakure no Sato." I look at the floor instead of the fourth Kazekage which is perfectly fine, because at this point he'd already done terrible things. Gaara had been born already. And while he might only be three years old, I had no intention of meeting him at all. "You are given free reign to roam the village's commercial and residential neighborhoods." Unspoken goes the acknowledgement that we will keep out of trouble and stay away from the actual shinobi of Suna. "We hope you have a pleasant stay."

En-sensei bows. "Thank you, Kazekage-sama." The other team leaders, all eight of them, do the same. "Thank you, Kazekage-sama."

We turn and disperse as other Suna shinobi begin to explain where we would be staying.

* * *

The village is nothing like home. Every building is some sort of tan or beige blending in perfectly with the surrounding sand dunes, but lacking all of the bright intensity of a Konoha street. There were also fewer civilians on the street to begin with, even in the commercial district.

 _Suna is the smallest of the five great villages, and it shows in their infrastructure._

"So, what are we trying?" Toku slings an arm over my shoulder, and disrupts my uncharitable thoughts regarding the Kazekage, what he did to his own son, and the profusive amount of sand that is, in fact, still everywhere.

"Hmmm?" I ask, and look over at Muta who clarifies.

"We were thinking of eating something we wouldn't find in Konoha." He inclines his head in my direction. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"I don't think I'll mind much of anything." I say, and it's true enough. I'd eaten everything from pig's feet to cow stomach, to fried bugs in my past life, and the Inuzuka aren't picky eaters as a whole.

"Nothing with too many legs." Sensei looks fairly green even without those dark green smudges he deemed makeup. "The last time I was here Shikaku wanted to eat centipede." We all three of us look at each other, and Toku whispers.

"Byakugan." The veins on his forehead bulged as he scanned the surrounding area.

"Let's eat something that'll make Sensei very sad." Muta suggests. "Just make sure that it has at least six legs."

* * *

We end up in a booth on the side of the street that Toku looked incredibly pleased by. "Hehe. There are even food that doesn't have any legs here, Sensei."

En-sensei looks at us with mild displeasure. "You were all so respectful the first day we met, what went wrong?"

Muta snorts, and Toku and I both look at him with evident concern. "You introduced us to Kiho-baachan, Sensei." He says finally after he'd gotten his shaking shoulders under control. "That was the beginning of the end for you."

Sensei turns to the waitress who is in fact, looking around our table with mild concern. "I'll take the snake, thank you." He then glares at the rest of us. "And my lovely students here will all have some variation of your scorpion special."

We burst out giggling, because it's exactly what sensei doesn't want to eat: fried arachnids skewered on a stick like shish kebabs.

* * *

 **A.N.** People do in fact eat snake and scorpion in different parts of the world. For Suna, I considered that they were in a desert, so those two items would probably not be seen as 'weird' or a delicacy as they would in an area with more water and fewer of the pests.

Thanks for reviewing Whitefang001 and Snidekick. It's nice to know that other people like the character development, and as for whether or not Itachi's life will change, all I can say is that it will, good and bad.

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed last chapter. There were so many of you, I feel fabulous.

~Tavina


	19. Suna Chunin Exams Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

* * *

Scorpion...doesn't actually taste all that bad, despite the fact that every time we bit into one, Sensei visibly shuddered like he'd ants crawling up his spine. I almost felt sorry for him, but it is too fun to watch.

"This is the best idea we've had so far." Toku sighs with a dreamy expression on his face.

Besides him, Muta pulls another one off of his own skewer and dips it in hot sauce. "I concur. This idea has been fantastic." He mumbles through another mouthful.

Sensei looks away even as he also consumes another mouthful of snake meat. "You three will be the death of me." We're so engrossed in watching En-sensei squirm and wriggle his way into leaving us alone for a bit that we don't pay much attention as a small sandy haired girl slip into the booth as Sensei takes his leave. Sure, we noticed her, but it isn't important enough, especially since we are here by invitation.

"Aren't you a part of the bug clan?" Muta turns to look at her, and I suddenly realize who she is, but I really can't place what her name is at the moment. _The Kazekage's daughter has a name, but what was it?_ Why would you find it okay to eat scorpions?"

I feel my left eyebrow rise. _Is she serious?_ "Just because Mu-kun is an Aburame doesn't exclude him from eating anything he wants, you know."

Beside me Muta shakes his head and pulls another off of his skewer. "I am not fond of poisonous arachnids." To prove his point he bits the scorpion in half. "I much prefer eating them, since they are harmful to my kikaichu to begin with." He's surprisingly comfortable with her question, but he did have a sister about her age. She' _s older than I thought, especially since she doesn't look five._

"Who are you anyway?" Toku asks, leaning forward.

"I'm Temari." _Oh, that's what her name was._ She crosses her arms over her chest. "The Kazekage's eldest child."

Toku nods. "It's nice to meet you." I make no further comments, and paid just enough attention to the conversation to know where it is going. _What else have I forgotten about this world?_ After another short exchange, Temari stomps off into the distance.

Toku pokes me in the arm. "Are you alright?"

I look at him. "Hmm?" _Both of your teammates would make better homes._ "Oh, nothing. I was just wondering why the Kazekage's daughter would be wandering around by herself."

Toku frowns. "I was wondering that too."

Muta nods. "I agree."

"Let's pay attention?" I ask and see the affirmation in their eyes.

"Let's pay attention." The three of us nod, and go to find Sensei who is standing outside the booth, sipping tea from his canteen.

* * *

The first exam begins at dawn in eight different scrubbed down rooms in a seedy casino. _Not exactly as I thought it would go, but not everything is Konoha. I suppose this is the information test then._

"You will be given 2000 ryo per team to split amongst yourselves as you see fit. You have two hours earn as much money as you can. Any genin caught cheating by the dealer for the third time will be escorted from premises without prior warning, and any teammates of theirs will also be disqualified. Any team that loses all of their money will be disqualified. Any team attempting to use ninjutsu during this exam will be disqualified. The 20 top earning teams will move on to the second test. The money will be handed to you in ten minutes." I look at my teammates.

"Do either of you guys know how to play cards?" Muta just stares at me as though thoroughly confused. I sigh. "Make your way to the roulette table with about 500 ryo and and just bet on one of the numbers. If we're lucky, you'll win, if not, we won't be losing a lot of money."

"I know how to play poker." Toku offers.

I smirk at him. "You might have lost your poker face though. You should channel some main branch Hyuga scorn to get it back."

He bumps my shoulder with his own. "I'll manage just fine."

I lean in close, so we are not overheard. "It would be good if you could get to a bathroom and put makeup on to hide your eyes before we split up and start."

Toku nods. "I'll need the Byakugan to play poker."

"You should take 500 ryo for that then." I close my eyes. _It would be safer to keep at least a fourth of our starting sum in reserve just so we don't lose it all and strike out._ "I'll take 500 ryo and go play blackjack." Blackjack had been one of my favorite card games before my first death, but I hadn't any opportunity to play ever since.

 _Hopefully I still remember how to count cards and cheat the good old fashioned way._

Muta taps me on the shoulder. "Who's going to hold on to our other 500 ryo?" I frown.

"You should do that, since you stand the least likely chance to be pick pocketed." He nods, and suddenly my lips curl upwards in a smile. "While you're at the roulette table, don't care too much about placing the right bets, just pick the pockets of people next to you." _It really doesn't matter how we get the money, we should just earn as much money as possible._

"We should keep alert." Muta muses. "If we thought of stealing, then other teams have thought of it too."

I nod. "Attention, all team should report to the starting booth now." We shuffle at a slow pace towards the line, as one of the youngest teams here in the examination, even among our countrymen, we needed every advantage that we could get.

* * *

Toku had shuffled off to hide his Byakugan with Ni in tow, while Muta with San and I with Ichi parted ways so I could go and sit down at a table and he could stand near the roulette wheel. There were another six people at the table already, all of them ninja here for the exam when I take the seat across from the dealer. _Typically it's easiest to cheat sitting closer to the dealer, which must be why this seat is the empty one, but I really don't need to do that._ Ichi, the only one of the Triplets following me, flops down behind my chair.

There is chakra in this game now after all, and I could smell who had touched which card, not to mention, track which cards I'd touched. It wouldn't be hard as long as I played the lower bets at the table. We'd play at least thirty hands in an hour with our table size. Even if the dealer had six decks I'd be able to track the useful cards through the pile within the hour.

"You sure you're old enough for this, girlie?" A teenage genin with a Kusa headband leers at me from across the table, and I do my best not to laugh. _Theoretically, I passed the legal age to be at a casino four years ago, little boy._

I point at my neck instead. "You see the headband?" I ask and he opens his mouth to say more, but the dealer makes an annoyed cough.

"Bets on the table now." I slide two five ryo chips onto the table. _I can last fifty more hands just losing money like this._

* * *

The dealer did in fact have six decks, and I had a good read on where most of the aces were in the deck by the end of a single hour, all of the cards in the shoe having rotated twice around the table, and the decks having been reshuffled about three times, but that is hardly a problem with the subtle chakra marking. I slide a fifty ryo chip onto the table. I had lost roughly 300 ryo at the table already, but there is hope for our team yet. There is a good chance that I'd get a natural twenty one.

This round I had a two and an eight. Behind me Ichi growls. "Our chakra." I slip my left hand down to pat him on his head with out responding. My right hand raps the table next to the cards, and the dealer flips another card onto my pile. The ace shines in the bright florescent lighting.

"Twenty-one." He says, almost stunned, and I smile.

"Just lucky." I gather up the seventy five ryo that he flips to me, and pulled my own bet off of the table. _That's a hundred and twenty five more ryo right there._

"I bet you're cheating." A kunoichi with a Kumo headband grouses. She'd been steadily losing money for the past hour or so, just as I had been, but she'd busted again this round. _Either not counting cards or not very good at it then._

"I've lost far more money than I've earned." I counter mildly, and set another three ten ryo chips onto the table for the next hand.

I'm dealt two tens, which I split into two hands, sixty ryo on the table now.

The dealer flips me two cards, a king on one of them, and a jack on the other. "Stand." I say calmly.

 _If he's not cheating, he has about a five percent chance to make the twenty one._

The dealer has an even twenty, and I pull my bet off the table. _I should have found a way to differentiate all the cards from each other. Actually, Toku would make so much money at this game. Toku would just make so much money at all the games._

* * *

I rise from the table at the end of another half hour, about three hundred ryo richer than I came in. My wins aren't spectacular, and I didn't attempt to take a thousand ryo from the table for that specific reason. _There's no need to get busted for obvious cheating. If each of us is running on a profit of three hundred ryo we'd have nearly three thousand ryo. There have got to be teams that have a lot less than two thousand ryo by now._

"Let's go find Toku." I whisper to Ichi.

He agrees. "We should find the white eyed boy."

But before that, I put about four hundred of the eight hundred ryo in his stomach pouch. "People are less likely to be able to steal from you." I murmur, when he whines to ask me what I am doing. It's true enough, Ichi had better senses than I even with chakra enhancements.

Half our fortune thus secured, we march through the rooms in search of Toku. Ichi's the one that locates him through the thick crowd by one of the poker tables. There is sweat beaded on his forehead, which is how we find him, as he'd a blond wig and teal contacts in. If I hadn't been so used to the smell of his sweat due to so much time training together, I would have walked right by before noticing the way his foot tapped under the table.

"All in." Toku says, and slides another two hundred ryo onto the table. I strongly suspect that it is not all of his money, but it raises the stakes of an already high pot, the pile of chips on the table is no small amount. _There's at least two thousand ryo in there, right?_

 _Oh Kami, if he wins all of that we are actually set._ All around the table there are people folding until only Toku and the dealer remains. The dealer lays down his cards first, and my heart plummets. _Straight flush. Queens high. Toku, what on earth are you doing?_

For the first time since I'd been watching the table, my teammate smiles showing all of his teeth. He lays down his cards and behind him, Ni yips. Ace, king, queen, jack, ten... _Royal flush._

He scoops the entire betting pool off the table into Ni's pouch and bows on his way out. Our eyes meet across the table and he smiles a long slow smile before getting up to join me.

"I'd lost so many ryo before that stunt." He pulls me by the hand towards the restroom. "We need to get out of here."

"Why, what did you do?" A single henge later, we're two black haired boys heading towards the antechamber.

Toku smirks. "I've been corrupted of course." He presses five cards into my hand.

I look down at them. _These...are useless. They aren't even a pair._ "That was a genjutsu?"

Toku slaps a hand over my mouth and looks around. "Not so loud, Hana."

 _We'd just made two thousand ryo because Toku pretended to have a royal flush. Oh kami._

* * *

Our final total comes out to just over six thousand ryo. Pickpocket Muta made the most money throughout the course of the two hours, despite having started at about a thousand ryo, he'd neatly tripled the amount with very little effort.

"Wow." I stare in awe as Muta pulled an impressive stash of chips and hard cash. "That's what we all should have been doing."

Muta fiddles with his sleeve as he passes the money over to Ichi. "With the kikaichu, it wasn't hard to steal." He paused for a moment, with his head tilted. "It's not against the rules either, now that I think about it."

"Attention." The proctor's speaking again. "All remaining teams please convert all of your chips into cash and proceed back to the antechamber in five minutes."

* * *

In seven minutes later all chips and money exchanged from the chips disappear. _What-oh. We weren't supposed to be focusing on trying to earn money from the tables. Every time we lost money at the betting table, we lost money and no amount of cheating could bring it back._ I look over at Muta. _A good thing he did choose to steal, because the stolen money didn't disappear._

There are several shrieks of despair, which would have included us, if Muta hadn't been covering our backs.

"Any teams with remaining ryo come to the front and make a line." We step forward.

Toku nudges me in the shoulder. "All that work for nothing." But it looks like he didn't have many hard feelings for Muta carrying the team.

"So what was the purpose of letting us into a casino to begin with anyway?" A boy from Kiri asks.

The proctor snorts disgustedly. "The casino was a way for you all to be distracted. The first test awards your creative thinking, if you went for the obvious cheating at the tables you'd be buzzed if you did it shoddily, and tricked if you were doing it slightly better than the rest." She sweeps her hand over the fifteen teams out of a hundred remaining teams that still had any money whatsoever. "These teams pass." She turns to us, as other Suna shinobi escort the other disappointed shinobi out of the casino. "Meet in the East Hall bright and early tomorrow morning for the next test."

* * *

That afternoon we sit in the bunker with Sensei talking over the test.

"We were being stupid." I say, and buried my face in Ichi's furry back. _We'd been so, so stupid. What if Muta hadn't stolen anything? It was a bonus side note, not an all out thing. If we hadn't we'd have been kicked out._

And then where would Itachi be? How could I have been so stupid? I'm not here just for myself. I had to pass.

Sensei sets a hand on my shoulder. "No, you were being smart." Toku pokes me in concern and Muta has a kikaichu tap my neck. "What if they'd been asking for you to follow the rules?"

"But they didn't give any rules." I wail. _Even among my teammates, all of my determination netted me less money than either Toku or Muta._ I'd been useless, and I had thought of myself as being so helpful before. "I should've thought more."

And now both of Sensei's hands are on my shoulders as he pries me away from Ichi. "Hana?" He whispers as he turns me around. "Blossom." He says slightly louder, and it's the first time anyone's called me that since before I turned five. I throw my arms around his waist and sob.

 _I thought I was strong enough. I'll never be strong enough. I'm going to fail everyone. Everything's going to fall apart because I'm not the right person._

"I was so useless." My voice cracks and breaks and I'm getting tears all over his flak jacket, but Sensei doesn't seem to mind. His hand settles in my hair.

"Whatever you were, you've never been useless before, and I have full faith that you were a perfectly functional contributing member of the team." His kindness only makes my eyes sting more, and we stay there like that for a long time.

* * *

When we head out for dinner that evening, the mood is still subdued, despite the fact that we'd passed. Sensei takes us out to barbecue and huffs when we continue moping.

"I'd like you three to pack plenty of water for your exam tomorrow as I have every reason to believe that it's taking place out in the desert instead of Suna proper." Toku groans at this, but no one else makes further comment. I, too wrapped up in my uselessness to notice much else and Muta, I don't know why Muta has no reaction to this, but he is probably tired from the long day.

The thought takes no more than a moment, and it is gone from my mind, a lone leaf blowing in the wind.

Toku looks around the table and sighs, long sufferingly. "Well, I suppose no one's going to commiserate."

Sensei gives him a sardonic grin. "I don't foresee much going well tomorrow." He rises from the table and pushes his chair in. "Well, let's turn in to get a good night's sleep anyway."

We follow him like lost ducklings, each caught up in our own thoughts.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so the plot thickens. As we may have noticed, Hana's going to go through so many disappointments, big and small.

Thanks to Shy911, Snidekick and Sis for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina


	20. Suna Chunin Exams Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

The proctor for the second exam is the same as the first. She surveys the fifteen remaining teams, and gestures for us to follow her. We end up at one end of a long series of dried out canyons without a single drop of water.

"All of you teams will need eighteen of these gold coins." She holds up several 'gold' coins which were probably fake. "And get to the oasis at the other end of this series of canyons by sunset tomorrow, or we'll have to come and pick you up because you'll be dehydrated and near death. If you arrive without all members of your team alive you are disqualified. If you arrive without eighteen gold coins, you are disqualified." She then pulls out a scroll and starts reading the teams. "Team Six from Konohagakure, ranked first..."

I pull Toku and Muta back as she gives us six golden coins each.

"She's having the rest of them gunning for us." I hiss as I try to shuffle us into the back of the crowd. The other teams had only gotten six coins total. We are a juicy prize for every single team that knew they could take the three of us, much younger than any of the other competitors at eight and eleven.

Muta doesn't move. "So what?" He says back, not bothering to whisper. "We can take them unless you're scared." The response is so unlike him that I freeze.

Ichi and Ni form a rough furry wall around me, and Ichi growls. "Stop being mean to Hana." San looks between the two of us, caught in indecision, but finally moves over to join his brothers.

"What did you just say?" _Muta isn't confrontational. He's normally so rational, what's happening?_ His frown at my words is visible, and all around him the kikaichu buzz louder than I've heard them do before. I feel a cold sweat break out across my skin. _What's wrong with him?_

"Come on, you two." Toku murmurs. "We have to be a team right now. We can fight later all right?" He sets one hand on both of our elbows and guides us to our entrance. "We need to make a plan."

"Does Hana-sama have a suggestion?" Muta asks, and his voice is so bitter that it turns my stomach. "After all, Hana-sama is always making plans."

"Mu-kun." Toku says and steps between us. "We have to put aside our differences." He turns back towards me. "Does running as fast as you can sound good to you?"

I nod weakly, mind still trying to figure out what is wrong with Muta. I have no idea what is wrong though. He'd been subdued yesterday, but he wasn't confrontational. I'd never seen him angry before, but I have an unsettling feeling that he is certainly angry now. And he's angry at me, not Sensei or Toku, because he's far too rational to take his anger out on a person who didn't, in his mind, deserve it.

The sun beats down, and even in this early morning, the temperature's rising, soaring, and we'd have to be careful to make it without using up too much water.

We're further along in the canyon maze than most other teams, which is a blessing, because when the explosive signal goes off in the sky, we take off as fast as we can down the canyon floor.

* * *

I stay away from Muta, Ichi and Ni flanking me, and San in between he and I. Tokuma runs between us, his byakugan active, meaning that he doesn't have to turn his head, but he does so anyway every few moments.

At one point he nearly runs into a pillar because he's so focused on looking at me.

At the two hour mark we stop to drink water and gauge the distance to the end of the canyon maze.

"It should take us another half a day or so going at a decent speed." Toku offers, and Ni whimpers. "Why does it have to be so far?"

I pat his head. "We'll be there soon, you see."

Muta snorts. I feel his derision ring out across the stone and something inside me crumbles. "Only because you want to run away from everyone."

I frown at him, and his dark cloud of pessimism. _Alright. I've had it with this. He's going to tell me what's wrong with him, or I'm going to clock him in the face._ "Alright." I say as I rise, hands on my hips. "Tell me why you've suddenly turned into a giant ball of angst. Is the rest of this team not good enough for the High and Mighty Lord Muta of the Aburame?" I walk forward so I can glare at him, and the kikaichu are louder than ever, the dull hum in my ears not only the sound of my rushing blood. "Well, is it?"

"Hana." Toku puts a hand on my arm. "Later, Hana. Please."

Muta turns away, but I see the disgust in his features and feel a kunai twist deeper between my ribs. _Why is our teamwork breaking down?_

* * *

"Trap!" I call out as a line of kunai launchers are suddenly triggered, and it is raining sharp knives. The Triplets get away, and I reach out for Muta, but he moves on ahead and straight into another trap.

The explosion is deafening, and a long wordless scream stretches into the still air. _No. No. No! MUTA!_

It takes Toku shaking my shoulders to make me realize that the scream is my own. "Hana. Hana!" My teeth rattle in my head, but I can't stop screaming. "Hana, he's fine. Muta's fine! The substitution jutsu remember? He's fine, Hana."

Muta brushes a trickle of blood from his lips, but he stands in front of me, as solidly as usual. There's a cloud of dead kikaichu at his feet though, and he seems shaken. "Are you-" He asks, but says nothing more.

I throw myself at him. "Don't do something like that ever again, Mu-kun." I forget that he's mad at me, and I don't know why. I forget that I hadn't contributed yesterday, but he had. I forget that I feel useless and small next to him, when I'd never felt that way before.

I remember that we used to play substitution tag and that he'd caught me more times than I'd caught him. that he had a big heart and he wasn't afraid to break down and sometimes he just wasn't confident. "Mu-kun." I whisper. "I thought I wasn't enough." A single hand of his comes to rest between my shoulder blades, which is a large enough concession from him that I feel warm inside.

"And I thought I wasn't good enough." He says to my hair.

I pull back to look at him through my blurry vision. _Why would he have thought that?_ "Are we friends again?" I ask, and his expression is so visibly painful.

"We were always friends, Hana." We're too caught up in that moment, too concerned about whether or not we'd at least patched the string between us.

"Look out!" Toku screams as he pushes us away. The next moment a blast of wind chakra roars across the canyon floor and it throws Toku, who'd been the only person without someone to hold onto and still in the gust's direct path, into a wall of solid stone. The sickening sound of cracking bone rings out loud and clear.

Ni's in front of him in an instant, his fangs bared and glistening wetly in the hot, desert sun. "Not here. We're not done here."

"Well, I've finally found the little brats." A single kunoichi from Iwa steps down from behind us, and Muta raises his arm.

"I won't let you hurt my team." We slide into position around Toku who's eyes are wide, and in this moment, truly unseeing.

The kunoichi laughs, her shoulders shaking. "I've already taken out the only person on this team worth mentioning: the Hyuga. Now there's only the little dog girl and the weird bug boy who can't work with each other left." _She'd been watching us. She'd seen our quarrel._ I feel my blood run cold. _We didn't notice._ She smiles at us, teeth shining white and holds out a hand. "Just give me your coins and I'll be on my merry way."

I feel my own lips draw back in a snarl."The day that hell freezes over." Her face changes until her grin isn't mocking, but murderous. The air has changed somehow, become oppressive and heavy. It's like breathing soup, but the Triplets are surprisingly clear headed.

"Then I'll send you three to the shinigami to check for me." She leaps forwards toward Muta who still has his arms raised, and I've got Ichi and San with me. I slide into Beast Mimicry as I breath in, and then I am both Ichi and San as I breath out. _Not. Our. Pack._ Her katana tears at our flesh, but we do not care. There must be wounds but we don't feel pain.

In this moment we are invincible, we are strong, and she cannot hurt us enough to stop us from moving. Muta's right beside us, and we move with him because that what it means to be pack, pack, pack. She's slower now, and we can sense Muta's kikaichu draining her chakra. We know where he's standing, and we know where they are on her body.

We can smell her fear, and it's bitter taste in the air as we move. Our lips draw back and our claws tingle. Muta connects a punch and a kick.

We sink our teeth into her flesh and shake her like a rag doll, and then we pull.

Blood splatters the ground like rain, and we growl with vicious satisfaction. _We've won. Won. This is what it means to win._

* * *

I'm throwing up water next to a dead body a moment later. There's the coppery, bitter taste of blood that makes me want to keep throwing up, but I wipe my mouth on my sleeve and straighten up. In doing so, I glimpse the shredded wounds on the corpse out of the corner of my eye, and it's night again, night, night, night, that very first night and I'm seeing Toku holding his hand at the level of the woman's throat, and the sun is rising over Sensei's bleeding and unconscious body, and two slashes of my kunai blood black in the moonlight and now there's this.

Pieces of a body littering the canyon floor at high noon with heat waves still wafting up into the still air.

She hadn't even really had time to scream. My heart is pounding unevenly, and I can hear blood rushing through my ears like the roaring of an ocean. I set both hands against the canyon wall and close my eyes.

A comforting blackness greets me this time. I breath in. I breath out.

And I find Ichi bumping up against my hip. "We don't have time to wait here." He whimpers. "The White Eyed Boy is dying." _Dying? Toku?_ My eyes snap open and I'm turning towards the rest of my team, all thoughts of panic thrown into the wind. There they are.

Toku with one arm held at an impossible angle, his eyes still wide and unseeing. "Are they gone yet?" He whispers.

Muta tries to lift him up. "Yes, Toku, they're gone." _He's lost his glasses._ I think to myself, and feel laughter, raw and wounded, bubble up in my parched throat. _His glasses had always been so important to him._ "Hana." He says, and his voice is a terrible plea. "What do we do? He's-" His voice breaks and he tries to push up glasses that are no longer there, kikaichu crawling in frantic waves across his face. "He's asking the same questions over and over."

I notice that he too, carefully avoids looking at the body for too long. My face stings when I move any muscles and there's a long gash on my arm and I'm sure I've sprained something, but it doesn't matter. I'm alive.

I stagger over and tear off Toku's right sleeve at the shoulder. He moans, but Muta has a hand over his mouth just in case he screams too loudly and attracts the other teams who must still be somewhere in the maze of canyons. "We need something hard to splint his arm." My hands trail over the purpling flesh on Toku's skin, and the breakage where shattered bone protruded from an awkward angle through his elbow. There isn't even a stick in this disturbing place.

I am tired. So, tired. I just want to lie down and sleep, pillow my head in the rough stone beneath my feet and sleep until everything is all over.

"Is he injured anywhere else?" I ask as I brush his bangs back from his face. "Toku?"

"M okay." He mumbles, and attempts to stand up by pushing himself up with his other arm. Muta hurriedly slings Toku's good arm over his shoulders.

"I don't think so." He says when he looks up at me again. "But we can't really travel very far like this, and we're going to run out of water."

We make it only a little farther down the canyon that afternoon despite the good time we'd made that morning, and we leave a trail of blood and chakra in our wake.

We're wounded animals, with the buzzards right behind.

* * *

Dusk has fallen.

"We can't light a fire." I cross my arms over my chest. Muta sighs and gestures at Toku, who we'd set on the ground and covered with all of our blankets. Despite that, he's still shivering in the cold night air due to being unable to effectively cycle his chakra.

"But, Hana, if we don't light the fire Toku could freeze to death." Muta's right, but I don't know what we're supposed to do in a situation like this.

I let go of Ichi. "Go wrap around Toku, but make sure to be careful of his injured arm."

Ichi looks at me, looks at Toku, and then looks at me. "If he doesn't get help soon, he'll die."

I sigh and bury my hand in the ruff of fur at the base of his neck. "I know, but if we have to survive the night first." I turn back to Muta. "All of us have to survive tonight first, and we can't light a fire if we want to do that. There's got to be teams still hunting for weak prey. They'll be on us as soon as we give them a big beacon to show them where we are."

He looks down at his hands. "Can we make it to the end of the maze?"

I blink at him. "We could have." I whisper. "If we'd really pushed we could have made it at dawn tomorrow."

"We can't really stay _here."_ Muta stands back up, still swaying on his feet. "If the sun comes up, we'll get killed either way whether or not we made a fire. The kunoichi's team is probably looking for her, and we won't be able to fight both of them."

 _The noon sun. Pieces._ I hand him a soldier pill from the dwindling supply. "Well, in that case, we should get moving." I pop another one into my mouth.

It tastes as bitter as blood.

* * *

It is possible to exhaust your chakra stores and become addicted to soldier pills to keep moving if you develop the nasty habit of going on too many long missions. I imagine that Kakashi would be able to understand the feeling, but he is a country away in Konoha. Or maybe he's running ANBU missions. I have no idea, as it's too far above my clearance levels. But by the time we stagger across the finish line a few minutes before dawn, Muta and I seem to be well on our way towards at least a dependency.

Toku hadn't stopped shivering the entire night, and in the pre-dawn light his lips are tinged with blue. We'd moved with the strength of worry and Toku's pained mumbling while he's strapped to Ni.

"I don't know how we made it." I whisper to Muta who looks just as dead on his feet as I feel. Even the Triplets are staggering as though drunk on too little sleep to make a difference. _We could have all been slaughtered. We were so lucky._

"We had desperation on our side." He murmurs back, tongue thick and heavy, his words almost intelligible. I'd been half carried by Ichi practically the entire second leg of the journey.

"Congratulations at having completed the Second Test." I bare my teeth at the proctor and when she asks for our coins, I throw them at her face with the last of my strength. _Take them. I don't want them. They nearly cost me Toku._

Would I have traded Toku's life to make chunin? Would I have let him die if I knew that I could prevent Itachi's destiny? Is it worth the risk?

The answer seemed increasingly to be no. But here we were. All of us still alive, and we'd passed their Kami-damned stupid test that had nearly killed us all.

"Medic." I gasp falling to my knees. "We need a medic." My eyes want to close, I want to collapse forwards into the sand, but I can't. _There's no Sensei. Toku's down. Muta, The Triplets and I are at an all time low, and we're in hostile territory._

I claw my way up, back on my feet once more.

No. _I can't sleep yet._

I'm still swaying on my feet as I make my way over to lean against Muta's shoulder. He's still holding onto San's neck to keep upright, so I figure it's okay. We make a terrible looking pair, but neither of us cares.

"Hana." He whispers. "I'm sorry for being mad. You didn't mean it the way I thought you did."

"What?" I slur. _What is he talking about?_

"You were upset yesterday, but it wasn't because I did better." _Oh, yesterday...the day before yesterday was four years ago, Mu-kun._

"I didn't do enough." I mumble.

He laughs, his breath huffing across my neck. "I thought you were upset that I was good for once."

We carry each other forward. "You were always good. But we're better as a team."

He hums his affirmation, and I can feel the sting of stretching the cut on my face as I smile.

"Hana-chan?" I blink, and Sensei's in front of me wearing nothing more than a night shirt and a pair of old, ragged pants. "And Tokuma-kun and Muta-kun." He's sweeping an eye over all of us and bellows for a medic loud enough to wake the dead.

I let my eyes slide close as the first rays of the sun poked up above the low horizon. _Ah, Sensei's here. Safe._

* * *

 **A.N.** And thus passes the second test.

Thanks to Sis for telling me to edit something last chapter! (It's been fixed now.)

And to WhiteFang001: I hope you liked the second test. I kind of mushed together a long of different ideas.

And Sam: I'm so glad you think it's fantastic.

And HidenYori: Thanks so much for your review!

And of course, huge shout out to everyone who favorited and followed.

Let's keep going.

~Tavina


	21. Suna Chunin Exams Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

We are the last of four teams to make it across the finish line. Which, isn't really a priority right now, as Muta and I sit and wait for the medics to finish working on Toku.

"Bad stress fracture and dislocation of the right arm, a major concussion, lacerations, face, and back, check for possibly broken or cracked ribs." The medic turns to us. "What did this to him exactly?"

"A mid-level Futon." I whisper. _Oh, Toku, Toku, I'm so sorry for everything._ "He took the brunt of it." The salt in the long scratch on my face stings, but I deserve it. _What sort of idiot am I to forget that I'm supposed to take care of my team even when one member's angry with me?_

En-sensei is waiting outside, and I know that he'd be disappointed with us. With our conduct as a team. Not with Toku, he had only tried to help the best he could, but he couldn't bridge a gap between two arguing teammates if we were intent on disagreeing.

The medic that had asked me a question turns back to removing minuscule pieces of rock from Toku's back, while yet another one is using green chakra to mend the broken bones in his smashed arm.

Muta sets his hand over mine. "I messed up."

I don't look at him when I reply. "So did I." _But we're not paying for it, are we? Toku's paying for_ it. The words that really need saying go unsaid between us because we understand. Whatever the misunderstanding between us, it would not get in the way of our teamwork again.

The price had been too much to pay the first time around.

* * *

Sensei walks in half an hour later, and we could see the haggard look on his face as if he'd aged ten years in a night. "You will not do this to me, or your teammate ever again." Is the only thing he says to us as he looks over Toku's still form on the hospital bed. We curl in on ourselves, the long silence stretching out over us like a shroud. _We know, Ensui-sensei. We're sorry we betrayed your trust in us._

It is another half hour before he speaks again. "I shouldn't have let you go out there." A sigh. "It was my fault." He turns to us, and opens his arms. We rise like little puppets and cling to him.

We'd killed before, but none of us had been injured so far away from home with the possibility of dying before we ever got to safety before. _I have to remember that this is real life. I'm not a character in a manga._

 _This is real and people can die because of the decisions I choose._

"All will be better." Sensei whispers into our hair. "We'll all be going back to Konoha. You'll be safe enough there." The subtlety of Sensei's phrasing assures us that not even Konoha is really a haven where nothing could hurt us, but home would be better.

Toku chooses that moment to wake up. "Ah, guys?" We break apart and rush to see him. He's sitting up, albeit slowly and painfully. "Can I get some water? I'm parched."

* * *

"So we're not fighting anymore?" Toku looks between the two of us, his gaze still somewhat hazy, but much better than it had been back in the I shake my head.

"We're not fighting anymore." And then I look away and worry my teeth over my lip while I scratch Ni behind the ears. "I'm not sure there was much of anything that we had to fight over to begin with." My breakdown had been silly. So what if I hadn't really contributed, and Muta had carried us through that phase of the Exams? We are on a team so that our flaws and weaknesses are balanced, not so we could make nice with expansive egos and inflated senses of self confidence.

"I behaved in a petty fashion." Muta bows his head. "I apologize. It hurt you."

Toku grins. "I'm glad we're not fighting anymore."

Sensei heaves a sigh and slides into a chair. "Wake me up when there's something happening. I didn't get enough sleep last night." Going by the dark smudges under his eyes, and the bruised, tired sort of look in the lines and planes of his face, he hadn't slept at all.

 _Sensei was waiting for us to come back. I'm so thankful that we did._

We share a smile, the three of us, back together at last before we sigh in unison. "Yes, of course Sensei, do fall asleep."

He opens one dark eye to glare at us futilely. "I did nothing to deserve you three hellions."

We laugh, and Toku winces. _It's his ribs. It has to be._ "Maybe I shouldn't laugh for the time being."

Muta and I look at each other, but I'm the first to speak. "We should tickle him later so he can get the extra pent up laughs out of his system. It wouldn't do if our resident corrupted Hyuga had time to recalcify."

I see his lips curl up into a visible smile. _All is well in the world again._

* * *

"Do you want to continue with the exam?" Sensei folds his hands together over his knee and looks at all three of us.

Ichi woofs. "We've come too far to forfeit." In my heart of hearts, he echoes my own sentiments. _We've come too far and given up too much to turn back now._ San whines his agreement. Ni huffs, but says very little. His brothers would decide this time.

I look up at Sensei. "The Triplets want to continue."

"I as well." Muta sets his hand over mine. "If Hana's going, she shouldn't go on alone." More quietly he adds. "I've learned my lesson about disagreements while in the line of duty. I promise you Ensui-sensei, never again."

Sensei nods. "A wise decision." He then turns to Toku. "So what about you? What will you do?"

Toku laughs and then winces, setting his good hand against his ribs. "I don't think I"ll be able to go on, guys." He settles for a smile instead of a laugh this time. "If I can't make it, at least one of you has to make chunin so this thing isn't a complete wash, you know?"

Sensei smiles. "You all have grown."

He opens his mouth to say more, but at precisely this moment, a dark hared man with a goatee slides open the door. "Hey Ensui, 'S your minion alright?"

Ensui-sensei shoots him an annoyed glare. "We were in the middle of a heart to heart conversation, Asata. You came in and called them mere minions."

Asata-san snorts. "That's what being a jonin sensei is about: having minions. If you don't have them, you aren't doing them right." His casual, lighthearted demeanor drops a moment afterwards. "They're sending in the pick up crews to figure out what happened to the other two teams."

Konoha had started with nine teams, five had dropped in the first round. And now another two were out of the running.

Sensei sighs. "Tell me about it. Are Makito and Hiroshi still strung wires about this?"

Asata-san sits down. "You're one to talk. You didn't get a wink of sleep until your minions made their way across that finish line and you'd have killed anyone who told you that they were dead." I feel my cheeks flush. _Sensei is totally a Papa Bear._

"Well, I hope for their sakes, no one's dead." Sensei comments and stretches languidly over his chair.

"I can't figure out how my old man let you teach a genin team. Doesn't he want you working in RnD and Cryptology?" Asata-san chuckles and nudges Sensei with an elbow. _He calls the Hokage an old man? Who is he exactly?_

"I told him if he didn't give me the exact team I asked for he would no longer have a head of Cryptology." Sensei says this in a drab monotone that warms all of our hearts.

There is pin drop silence in the room broken only by Asata-san's impressed whistle. "I'm surprised you're still alive."

"He needs Cryptology, Asata. The other option was pulling Hatake out of ANBU." _Wait. What._ I felt my own heart plummet into my stomach. _I so narrowly avoided Kakashi as a sensei? Oh thank Kami._ I needed to remember to burn some more incense offerings because otherwise I'd probably still be in the academy by now, helping exactly zero people.

"He is the better tracker." Asata-san muses. "But I doubt Tou-chan would care about that when faced with the resignation of the head of his Cryptology department." _He calls the Hokage father? So his full name has to be Sarutobi Asata. Doesn't that make him Asuma's elder brother? Did Asuma even have an older brother?_

"The tracker team sensei for a top tier team's always the weird one anyway." Sensei mumbles. "They can't get a Hyuga, an Aburame, or an Inuzuka to do it after all. Clan biases and all that jazz." He props his head up with a hand. "Besides, Hatake's a maladjusted teenager. I wouldn't have been able to let him take Kaito's daughter, Shoko's son, and Reichiru's son. It would have been blasphemous." So Sensei knew all of our parents then, which is why he never bothered to show up for team dinners with the rest of us.

His laziness suddenly made sense. _They probably forgive him even if it is somewhat rude._

"Just be careful they don't stick you with another team of genin after this one or you'll never get any sleep whatsoever." Asata-san rises and shoves his hands in his pockets. "Looks like it's just your team and mine now. Intel vs the Tracker Squad, and I can tell you, you're going down."

Sensei snorts. "Famous last words, Sarutobi. Famous last words."

* * *

There had been two other Konoha deaths in the exams, both from the same team. The thought is sobering enough when they carry the bodies back that evening, partially mutilated beyond reasonable recognition. _That could have been us. Two thirds of a team gone. How would the remaining member carry on?_

There'd been a scream when one of the tense jonin sensei had realized what was going on. The other team had suffered no fatalities, and reparable injuries, they just hadn't made it in time.

It is a small price to pay for being alive, but they don't seem to think so.

I squeeze Toku's shaking hand. "We're all still alive."

"Thank Kami." He responds.

Muta nods. "We know better now." Sensei doesn't let us out of his sight for the rest of the evening, all the way through the next day. His eyes trailed after us, and the line of his shoulders is set and tense on the trip back into Suna.

* * *

We rest for the following three days back in Suna proper. The last test would not be a tournament styled exam taking place a month from the end of the second exam. Instead, it would be a free for all brawl at the end of two weeks. Clearly they didn't expect too many foreign dignitaries to be interested in traveling to the country of Wind to watch genin duke it out in a sand pit.

Frankly, I am not surprised that no one really voluntarily wanted to travel to such a place.

Toku would certainly not be able to recover in time for Sensei to let him fight. There is only so much that chakra can do for some major injuries, and Suna isn't exactly a profusion of medics.

In short, Muta and I had a week and a half to prepare, and Toku would definitely not be promoted this time around.

* * *

"So did you pass the test, Dog Girl?" Temari hops into my line of sight as I run through a set of stretches. I pause, with both palms pressed flat on the ground, the same way I had years and years ago the time Itachi and I had a genuine conversation.

"Temari-san, if I didn't pass would I still be alive?" The words come out rather sardonically, but I feel that I'm excused from sugar coating my experiences as we'd been stupidly lucky to not have died.

The question's a rhetorical one, but she still seems to consider it seriously. "I suppose, if you did not pass the Second Stage of the Exams." She announces in a grand tone of voice. "You'd have a good chance of not being alive." She pulls another little boy out from behind a rock. "This is my little brother, Kankuro."

 _He looks nothing like what he will look like with face paint._ A four year old with brown hair and his father's face, did not the purple face paint boy wearing a suit with cat ears make.

"-and I have another little brother too. His name is Gaara, but we can't visit him." _And you have no idea how glad I am that we can't._

"Why are you so interested if I passed or not?" And really, why is the Kazekage's only daughter so interested if a foreign kunoichi passed anyway?

She worries her lower lip between her teeth, and stares me straight in the eye. "I'm going to the Academy soon, and I wanted to know if a serious kunoichi can pass her first exams." _Oh._

I flip over so I'm stretching my abdominal muscles instead of my legs. "There are plenty of strong kunoichi that pass their first chunin exams."

"Not in Suna, they don't." Temari grins, and it's bloodthirsty and determined. "But I will. I'll prove them all wrong, you see." I think back to what had actually happened during her chunin exams. "I'll be the very first."

"I'm sure you will." What could I say? _Um...no, actually you get defeated by a Nara so lazy someone had to kick him down into the ring to fight with you?_ Somehow, I didn't see that tidbit going over well.

* * *

 **A.N.** Short chapter today, and slightly more filler-y, but we do need to cool down from emotional roller coasters some how. Also, Kishimoto didn't name Konohamaru's dad or mom, suggested that they were at one point ANBU agents and gave no clues as to whether or not they're alive during canon. I'm a little irritated by this.

For the purposes of this story, I will be calling Konohamaru's dad Asata, the older brother of Asuma, and Konohamaru's mom Kiyoki.

Also thanks so much to ASH the Trouble, and Guest for informing me about the formatting issues, hopefully this chapter is clearer, but if not, you guys can always tell me and I'll try to fix it.

In that vein, I'll be going over the earlier chapters sometimes to fix the problems.

Thanks to Snidekick and Everbear01 for reviewing! (Don't worry, Hana and Muta are mostly okay now.)

Thanks to everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	22. Suna Chunin Exams Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

We're approached by Asata-san's team a week before the third test begins. _A Nara, an Akimichi, and a Yamanaka. The most famous of Konoha's intel squads._ They are older than us by some three years, but at this point, we can say that we stand on even footing with them.

"In the spirit of being fair," the Akimichi girl announces, "We thought you should know that the team from Kumo is gunning for you." _Oh god._ Knowing that there are people who want to kill us is a different matter from knowing that there are _specific_ people out to kill us.

"Well, thank you." I say, and glance over at Toku and Muta. "We'll keep that in mind." The gaze between us said that we'll have an in depth discussion about this topic after they leave though.

"You're not going to ask for a truce during the brawl?" The Yamanaka boy leans forward with his head resting on his folded hands, his elbows on his knees and his feet tucked in.

"Did you wish to offer one?" Muta readjusts his glasses and surveys the three of them impassively. "We don't know you after all, and you don't know us."

The black eyed Nara boy has said nothing so far, his hands caught in the thinking seal, but he opens his mouth now. "We would be willing to offer these terms: a temporary truce until both the team from Suna and the team from Kumo have been eliminated. After that, the deal's off."

Muta and I share a glance. _It's a good deal. Should we take it?_

"We'll take it." Toku says and his smile is lazy. _They don't know yet, of course, that we won't all be in the ring._ The Nara rises and offers Toku a hand. "I'm Nara Kasuga."

"Akimichi Chikai." She tosses her hair over her shoulder and gives me a knowing look. _You're a serious kunoichi too, aren't you?_

"And Yamanaka Santa." The other boy nods at Muta, but doesn't offer a hand to shake. I'm almost offended, but not everything is about whether or not another person wants to touch an Aburame, thus I let it slide.

They disappear out the door, each step in perfect sync.

I turn back to Toku and Muta. "We need to learn how to do that."

Muta raises an eyebrow. "What, force younger teams to do our bidding like they just did?" _That's not exactly what they did, but eh, close enough._

I lightly punch his shoulder. "No! Being in such perfect sync of course." He doesn't respond, so I turn the topic back to the most pressing concern at hand. "Anyway, guys, we need to talk about the team from Kumo that has it out for us."

Toku leans forwards, activates his Byakugan for two seconds, and then reclines back onto his pillows. "There aren't any people watching. Alright. Let's talk." He looks around and grins. "Do we know anything about the team?"

Muta raises a finger. "They are older than us. They're a front line team, so we'll have to deal with a lot of ninjutsu, mostly likely lightning release, and one of them owns a wakizashi." A silence falls over the room as we try to figure out how we are supposed to get out of this one.

"That doesn't sound good." I say when the oppressive air becomes too hard to bear. "Well, it's a good thing that we do have Asata-san's team on a truce right now, otherwise we might actually get ripped apart."

"The other three teams are full teams right?" Toku folds his hands together. "We should take the first opening we see and try to stay alive." What goes unsaid is that Toku wouldn't be fighting with us, but if we died he'd hardly be alive afterwards.

I smile. "Yeah, Sensei's maxim right? Take whatever openings the enemy gives you?"

* * *

The third and last test day dawns bright and crisp, but the actual start of the brawl is high noon, when heat waves rise from the sand giving the air a hazy, distorted sort of look and the merciless sun beats down without the cover of a single cloud. Luckily, sand is still earth, and Muta could manage one or two grand fireballs given enough time.

"We should stick together." I murmur to Muta while looking at the nine other people we would have to beat down to survive. "We've got excellent teamwork and if we survive this, it'll be the best day of my life."

Beside me, Ni yips. "We just need to get through today." I scratch behind his ears.

"Yeah." And really, survival is all that I ask of today. Whether or not Muta or I made chunin could wait until later.

Muta nods. "Let's try to avoid the conflict in the beginning to see what we're up against."

I frown. "Are you sure that'll work? The team from Kumo is looking to beat us down first, remember?"

"But we need to consider how truthful the information might be. Besides, we can't take them head on, remember?" Muta slides his hand through San's fur, and takes a deep breath. "Team Six Plan 13c."

I nod. "Yes. Plan 13c it is." Plan 13c is really just personal code, for stay the hell alive and on the defensive. If we had Toku's eyes we'd have almost 360 degrees of vision. He and Muta would be back to back and I would be the spinning blur around them.

It seemed that today I'd be watching Muta's other side. "Can you be the duo in the fang passing fang rotation today?" I crouch slightly so that I can look Ichi and Ni in the eye. "San can be the rotation."

"Yes." Ichi barks once and I smile. Ni whines, but agrees to it anyway, while San is completely distracted by Muta's free petting session.

We'd be okay.

We're accosted by Nara Kasuga not a moment later. "Where's the Hyuga?"

I frown at him. _I don't like your tone._ "Toku-kun isn't fighting fit right now. It's just the two of us." He scowls ferociously, but slouches away.

Something about him is disturbingly not Sensei-like and I can't really tell what it is, but there's no time to care. When he gets back to his team, he gestures lazily at us, there aren't any raised voices, but there does seem to be some sort of huddle going on within Team Asata. It looks like we've used up their supply of good will though, so we'd have to be careful.

I turn back to Muta and smile as brightly as I can. If today is the day that everything is doomed to fall apart I want him to remember my smile. He smiles back.

We shared the same sentiments after all.

* * *

"As all of you know by now, the third test is a no holds barred free for all brawl." The proctor stands under a shaded area of the fighting pit. "We will be watching to attempt to make sure that no one gets killed, but we can't be certain about that, so do have some sense of self preservation." Each team had been sent to one of each of the four cardinal directions to stand in a box which prevented us from using area affecting jutsu before the proctor announced the start of the match.

And indeed, the team from Kumo is glaring bloody murder at us, especially kunoichi of the team. I do not meet their eyes, despite the fact that they are directly across from us. _It's not a cowardly action, I promise. Oh who am I kidding. I'm just afraid._

I look up at the stands. There is Ensui-sensei gripping the back of the chair in front of him. _His knuckles must be completely white by now. Poor Sensei._ Surrounding him is a great deal of Suna's Shinobi forces, and a few foreign delegates.

And there, in the stands with the Kazekage, the Sandaime sits, puffing on his pipe. Behind him are two ANBU guards, but there's no familiar spiky silver hair. Wherever Kakashi is, it isn't here. Seeing the two figures sit together in a private box reminds me of Konoha Crush, and I have to remind myself that Orochimaru, wherever he is, is not up there in that box. _This isn't Naruto's first chunin exams. Pull yourself together._

I feed Ichi a soldier pill, and do the same with Ni. "You guys be careful, alright?"

"At any rate, whenever you'd like to start." The proctor leaps back from the center of the pit. "Begin."

Muta and I move forward just enough so that Ichi and Ni can start spinning. I flash through four hand signs. "Doton: Earth Ring." I whisper as I set my hands on the ground. A ring rises around us, about knee height, so we could still see over the top, but enough that any enemy trying to reach us would at least slow down.

We stand back to back as the team from Kumo races towards us at impossible speeds, and I palm two kunai.

The first strike of the other Kunoichi's wakizashi sends tremors down my arm, but it's no worse than trying to wrestle Ichi nowadays. She opens her mouth to gloat, but I move under the blade to strike with my other hand cursing my short arms all the while as the screeching of metal on metal sounded right next to my ear.

She disengages and I pull back as well. My ears are still ringing, but I can deal with that.

I withdraw the chakra that I normally kept circulating around my ears and the feeling lessens. _I'll need it more anyway._

Muta and San are holding off one of the two shinobi with her, and Ichi and Ni are mobbing the other one.

I am the only one alone. I shift into beast mimicry, settling onto four feet instead of two.

I have fangs and claws. We clash again, and I forget any semblance of being a girl. Why use a kunai when I have claws that'll work just as well?

* * *

When we disengage for the second time she has long scratches down her side, but I hadn't managed to bite her, or seriously injure her in any way.

I pant, sweat trickling down my face and into my split lip and cut cheek. She is fast, but when I'm really moving I could manage to be faster. Unfortunately, she has larger chakra reserves and more stamina than I do, because she, although breathing heavily looks better than I feel.

 _Not enough chakra. Should not have made the wall earlier. It deterred no one._

Shakily I straighten to just two feet again. _Should make the next jutsu count._ She sheathes her sword, and starts flashing through hand signs.

Tiredly, I do the same, half a beat too slow. "Raiton: Earth Shock." "Doton: Mud Wall." Too late, I remember that earth is weak against lightning when the barely formed wall is blown to bits and the pain from the shock wave travels up my arm. I fall to my knees, chest heaving, cradling my now useless left arm. _Breath. Breath and get up, Blossom. You're stronger than this._

I get back on my feet. The kunoichi from Kumo didn't look so great now either. _Must not be a strong ninjutsu type. That's why she carries the wakizashi._ She unsheathes her sword once more, and rushes forward.

This time, when I bring a kunai up to parry her strike I crumple like paper, every muscle screaming with protest. "Not so strong anymore are you? Not without those dogs of yours." She whispers in my ear, and my mind nearly short circuits.

 _She stopped to gloat?_ She's standing over me with her wakizashi still raised in the air, pausing to take a deep breath. The first thing Sensei had taught us was to keep quiet while making a kill. His specific words had been 'talking during a fight that you're winning will be the death of you.' Of course, talking when you're losing could also be the death of you, but I'm not about to begin the habit of victorious gloating. _Maybe she hasn't killed anyone before._ I don't have time to consider the thought.

She isn't standing too far away. I lunge forward and the kunai finds purchase in one of her legs. She makes a noise halfway between a groan and a strangled sob and the leg is majorly weakened, and I intend to stab her again this time in a major artery instead of just flesh and bone, but I land on my bad arm and I see stars. I attempt to roll away as I feel the swoosh of her sword coming down. This involves rolling onto my useless and slightly charred left arm and I again, see stars blurring my vision.

The sound of pain that makes it's way out of my throat is honestly an embarrassment. I've known worse, I had been hit by a car, I had died. _There is no reason for me to think this is painful._ But something must have given, because there is suddenly a grey mass above me between me and her downward stabbing sword, and the sound of metal going through flesh and a dog's whimper. "Hana...safe"

The pain disappears, but there's no sound, just the rushing of blood in my ears as I scream. "Ni!" He looks at me through one dark brown eye, his tongue lolling out into the sand with the most heartbreakingly happy expression "Hana safe," and I feel the world fade out.

There's only the rushing sound in my ears, only the one person in front of me that I have to kill. My eyes narrow.

I forget that I am tired. I forget that my left arm is currently useless, that I have no chakra left and that I'm bleeding from half a dozen small cuts and that if I continued to push the limits of chakra exhaustion then the last recourse is death.

I lunge at her and we wrestle together on the ground my teeth snapping less than an inch away from her throat. There's red in my vision, red, red, red everywhere. I don't see anything else. There's only the awful vile _object_ in front of me and my burning desire to make her pay. _Hana...safe..._

She scrambles in the dirt trying to buck me off of her, but we are in far too close quarters for her short sword to matter much now.

I am finally stronger than her in this test of brute strength and instinct. _Ni Ni NI NI NINININI-_

My teeth close at last, and this time the blood in my mouth tastes strangely like victory. _I protected. I won._

I roll over onto my back with a hand in Ni's fur, as the darkness pulls at the edge of my vision, I see Muta punch his opponent in the throat, and then his hasty retreat towards me.

My eyes slide shut.

* * *

I wake up again in a hospital bed, to the sound of beeping monitors. _Is this the hell that's reserved for people who can't protect those that are precious to them?_ My throat is parched, dry, and my eyelids don't want to obey my commands.

I force them open anyway.

"You're awake." Sensei's droll tone of voice hid a curtain of ice. "So glad you could join us again."

"Ni." I croak. "Where's-"

"Your dog is safe." A vein twitches in Sensei's temple and he had a grip so tight on the edge of the bedside table that the skin on his knuckles where akin to transparent rice paper. I could see practically every blood vessel under his skin. "He didn't suffer that many injuries."

I heave a sigh of relief. "Thank Kami."

Sensei glares at me, his jaw tight, but he does not grind his teeth. " _You,_ however, suffered severe chakra exhaustion, major wounds on your sides. Your entrails were quickly leaving your body to become outrails by the time the medics got down into the pit, you suffered major chakra burns in one arm and both hands and a lost a great deal of blood. " He pauses to take a very deep breath, and I try to remember if I actually sustained half the injuries he claimed I did. _Well, the arm is true. The chakra exhaustion is true. I might have lost some blood, but I don't remember a cut that deep in my side at all..._

But now that I'm conscious, there is a dull and terrible ache on my left side that is completely unaccounted for in my own personal inventory.

"What do you have to say for yourself, Hana?" Sensei runs a hand through his hair, which doesn't look like it's been combed in at least four days. "You ripped her throat out with your teeth. You nearly killed yourself to do it. Why?"

"I-" And here I pause. _I'd actually ripped someone's throat out with my teeth?_ "She hurt Ni." I say at last, and I realize that Sensei, for all his good points and vast intellect, did not understand the connection I had with the Triplets.

 _They would die for me. And I would die for them._ He didn't know about their unconditional love and support. He didn't realize, couldn't understand how much of a constant they were, and always had been. I'd killed her so violently because she had hurt someone every bit as important to me as the people in my life. But he didn't know, and couldn't really understand.

"Can I see him?" I ask and Sensei rises, each movement stiff and painful, as if he is an old man with arthritis. "All of them, I mean."

"Yes, Hana-chan. I'll let your dogs in." He turns to look at me after walking a few steps. "Just don't you dare do that to me again. I never want to bury you." _I put Sensei through the ringer. I'm sorry, Sensei._ He looks smaller, frailer, standing there with his hand on the door.

"I promise." I say, my voice small and sad and cracked. "You won't have to bury me, honest."

He nods, and opens the door.

* * *

 **A.N.** I am not fond of writing fight scenes, but I think I like how this one turned out. Some more character growth and development, and the sun also rises.

Thanks to EverBear01, Born to Sleep (Haha, really love your username, and I'll see what I can do about the slight inconsistency you mentioned), Sis, and Adi (We'll be getting to the Uchiha Arc in time, so I hope you'll be around for the journey.)!

And to everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina


	23. Suna Chunin Exams Arc: Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But wish fulfillment is fine too.**

* * *

The Triplets tumble into the room towards my hospital bed. "Hana." "Hana." "Hana." I run my hands through their fur, laughing wildly despite the ache in my side. Everyone's safe.

"You're alright. I prop myself up with my right arm and bury my face in Ni's fur. "You're fine."

He wuffs. "Hana better now." When I pull my face back, he covers it with dog slobber from over enthusiastic licking. I don't bother wiping my face. What would be the point? "Better now. Not dead." Ichi curls up on my right side. San flops over the foot of the bed. Ni very carefully curls up on the floor, favoring his right side especially the front paw.

He has a bald spot now, a shiny pink scar puckered over newly healed skin. I feel irrationally angry seeing the injury. _She's already dead, but I want to kill her all over again just because I see this._

Ichi nudges my shoulder. "Your hands are clenching again, Hana."

I raise an eyebrow. "You are surprisingly calm about this."

He sets his head on his paws and looks away. "I knew you would survive. You're the oldest of us, after all."

I giggle. "What are we? Rei, Ichi, Ni, and San?"

San huffs from his place by my feet and turns a baleful dark eye towards me. "No. We are Hana, Ichi, Ni, and San."

"We are your first brothers." Ni yips from his place on the floor. "Your closest packmates."

My lips curl up into a smile. "Yes, we're a family aren't we?"

Ichi hums. "We want you to know."

I poke him in the ear. "I knew that already, Ichi."

"Pesky human. We wanted you to know. It'll never change. No matter what you do." He snuggles closer and promptly falls asleep. I drift off after him.

* * *

Toku and Muta trail into the room as the sun goes down outside the window, staining the glass pink and red with dusty purple streaks. They walk with their heads down, and feet scuffing and the stone floor, and I wonder why they're so hesitant to come talk to me.

"Hi." I whisper, and my voice cracks from disuse and dehydration.

Toku hands me a cup of water. "Hello Sleeping Beauty, you're finally awake." He grins, his lips pulling upwards into a crooked smile, but it doesn't touch his eyes. I shrug, because really what else am I supposed to say?

Muta takes his glasses off and slides them into his front chest pocket. "You haven't woken up for two days, Hana." _Oh, well, that sounds quite horrific. I'm sorry guys, I'll be fine._ "Hokage-sama has postponed discussing advancements until all the injured genin could get out of their hospital beds." Muta sighs and sits down in the chair beside my bed that Sensei had vacated hours ago. "It's only you and Nara Kasuga now."

 _Sensei didn't mention him when he was here, and he's clan and I'm not._

"Why, what happened to him?" I ask and Muta frowns without saying a single word.

It's Toku who responds. "He betrayed you and Muta by putting your unconscious body in a shadow bind and using you as a shield after everyone but he and Muta had been taken out." Toku slams a fist on my bedside table, his Byakugan automatically activating. "It was such a dirty trick!"

That, that actually left me speechless. As ninja from the same village it is automatically horrifying to hear that Nara had puppeteered my body to use against my teammate. _I can't imagine what it felt like for Muta to have another Konoha nin use one of his teammates as a meat shield against him._

Muta visibly frowns, the buzzing of kikaichu filling the entire room in a heavy angry swarm. "I made sure to drain his chakra until it was life threatening. He deserved to feel some pain for that."

"Good." I say, surprising even myself with how viciously I'd responded. I am entirely unrepentant. _I cannot be used like that ever again. Not ever. I have to be stronger than that._ "I'm glad you did it." Suddenly a thought occurs to me, and I beam up at him. "So you must have won the brawl then. Oh, congratulations, Mu-kun!" If he'd been sitting closer I would have hugged him, but a pleased smile passes through his eyes, and Toku has relaxed slightly.

All is well in the world again.

* * *

After they leave, I climb out of my hospital bed, and by carefully holding onto Ichi, I make my way over to Nara Kasuga's room.

"This is a bad idea, Hana." Ichi growls. "He hurt you. We should hurt him."

I shoot him an unimpressed look. "He's still a shinobi of Konoha. Despite his lack of morals, we are not cut from the same cloth." I make this comment outside his door loud enough that he could certainly hear, and push it open so I could make my way into the room.

My side ached, but he certainly looked worse for wear, his face ash gray and exhausted, without a single other person in the room with him.

"What do you want?" He asks, and suddenly I know what the difference between him and Sensei that had so bothered me before. At his core, Sensei is an easy going, lazy individual who liked to drink tea. Nara Kasuga is just an irritable teenage boy that reminded me more of avenger Sasuke than anyone else.

"I want to know why you did that to Mu-kun." He seems confused, so I keep talking. "We're a close team, Nara- _san._ " The honorific is spat in such a way that I make sure he knows that there is no honor in it. "And you made him watch me bleed in front of him."

"What, you think I wanted to match Aburame in a taijustu fight, bitch?" He scoffs at me.

From beside me, Ichi bares his teeth in a wordless growl.

I pat him on the head and chuckle mirthlessly. "For a Nara, you aren't very original, Nara-san." I grin at him, one that shows all of my teeth and is reminiscent of the way that Kaa-san liked to grin at enemies she'd use to pick her teeth. He doesn't look as confident anymore, when I lean down to whisper in his ear. "Remember what I do to objects that hurt the people I love. I. Rip. Out. Their. Throats."

As I think about it, I really am angry enough at him to cause him serious damage for putting Muta through the ringer, but not angry enough to tear his throat with my teeth. I had enough restraint to remember that he is still nominally an ally.

He's pale when I turn to leave and I make sure to smile at him when I float through his doorway. "I'll be seeing you soon, Nara-san."

* * *

"I have decided that there are three shinobi deserving of promotion this time around." The Sandaime puffs on his pipe as he surveys the six of us remaining. "All three of you demonstrated the qualities that a chunin must have, persistence, good judgement, and ability to work with your team. Aburame Muta."

Toku cheers with good natured humor, and slaps Muta on the back. "Knew you could do it, Mu-kun."

The Hokage clears his throat, and Toku falls silent with an abashed grin on his face. "Now, as I was saying, Akimichi Chikai, and Yamanaka Santa, you three demonstrated the qualities that a chunin must have in order to lead a team. From this day forward I pronounce you chunin of konoha." He hands each of the newly promoted chunin a standard green flak jacket, and smiles kindly at each of them. "May you wear the honor you've earned through these successive trials proudly.

"Why didn't Hana make it?" Toku asks.

The Hokage turns to him with a raised eyebrow. "Inuzuka Hana-chan demonstrated a great deal of potential, however, she made several key errors in judgement that could have caused significant damage were she to actually be leader of a team on a mission outside the village." _I had thought perhaps...no, it doesn't matter now._

"Thank you for your guidance, Hokage-sama." I whisper, as I bow forwards a perfect a hundred and eighty degrees. "Your assessment matches my own of myself."

* * *

"You should have made chunin." Tokuma grouses as we sit around for team dinner that night. "You were strong enough. You made such great plans. You-" I place a finger over his mouth to shush him.

"I would have gotten everyone killed had I been in charge enough for you both to listen to me mindlessly. I don't belong as a chunin just yet." _We all nearly died half a dozen times during these exams, and I didn't see any flaws in them when I made them._

I am not ready to hold the lives of subordinates in my hands.

"So what am I supposed to do now, Sensei?" Muta addresses Sensei who is sitting at the edge of our little huddle. "Do I still come for team training on team training days?"

Sensei sighs. "Not quite. Theoretically, you've become a free entity at this moment, although traditionally we'd still be working together, Hokage-sama wants to move you to tracking as soon as possible and push another person onto our team dynamic." Sensei glares balefully at a spot above our heads on the wall. "He wants to get as many students out of me as possible, and in his mind, this is a good way to do it." _No, it can't be possible. Team Six is breaking up?_

"Sensei?" I ask, my throat constricting at the thought that it might be Nara Kasuga who'd join our team next. He's lost both of his teammates to the promotion he didn't get despite holding out longer than them. "Who's going to be our other member?" Everyone looks mildly shell shocked at Sensei's announcement.

We'd never considered that we'd stop being a team, all three of us together. We'd thought it would last forever even though it's kind of silly to have assumed so.

"Is it going to be Nara?" Tokuma snarls. "No offense, Sensei, but if I had to work with him I'd rip his throat out myself."

"No, the Hokage has yet to determine who he wants to add, but I shall personally make sure that my _dear clansman_ has a stern talking to, and isn't to come near any of you with a fifty foot pole." Sensei drawls, his arms crossed over his chest. "I will _personally_ oversee his punishment with the Vicious Hag, by which at the end of, he will wish he'd never been born to have disgraced Konoha before an international audience."

I let out a shaking breath. "That's good, Sensei."

He looks around the room at us, at our still too young faces, but older minds, and calloused hands. "I'm proud of all three of you." He says finally, when the silence has gotten too expectant. "I'm proud of how much you've grown as a team since Day 1. I'm proud of how you are right now, and one day you three will be Konoha's best." At his kind words we break down, mobbing Sensei in a tangled pile of growing limbs and fur and dog and tears.

"Sensei..." We are ending an era, and it doesn't taste sweet at all.

* * *

The journey home is filled with sand and the burning desire to avoid Nara Kasuga. If I see him for too long, I'd have the overwhelming urge to throttle him slowly.

"Hey, kid?" I look up from my jogging to see that Asata-san has slowed his own pace to match mine. "Can I get a few words?"

"I don't think I'd be able to stop you, Sarutobi-san." My response is too sarcastic, too mean for someone who'd seemed to be a good friend of Sensei's, but I had a fairly good idea what Asata-san wants to talk about, and I'm not about to touch the problem that is Nara Kasuga with a ten foot pole.

"I wanted to apologize." He begins, and I really really need to end this before it devolves into a full blown conversation.

"There's really no need for that, Sarutobi-san." I pick up the pace just a little, despite the sand grinding between my feet and shoes. "You weren't the one that did something so tragically wrong."

"Oh, but I did, Inuzuka-chan." Asata-san keeps pace with me easily, and I feel as though no matter how hard I try to run away from the conversation, it just keeps on coming back to bite me. "I'm his sensei after all." He sighs. "I just want you to forgive him, he's had a rough time of it being on active duty, and his personality was never particularly lazy to begin with, and then he's got the huge chip on his shoulder about being less smart than everyone-"

"There's no need to tell me all about his sob story, Sarutobi-san." I look Asasta-san in the eye. "Otherwise I'd then have to tell you mine: Father permanently bullied because of his nation of origin, dead before my fifth birthday, killed my first person at age seven, not quite the same since, a singularly focused Inuzuka, my cousins didn't even visit me until I turned three..." I trail off. _Actually, if I really wanted to, I could be one of those sob story kids too._ "But really, there's more to my life than that, right?"

And honestly, there is far more to my life than just that. "So if you're going to ask if you could foist Nara-kun off on Sensei the answer's no." I look back over my shoulder at Asata-san who seemed to have stopped in the middle of the desert. "Sensei'll kill him in a week."

* * *

When we step through the gates of Konoha, the tension that everyone hadn't even been aware is present eases out of us. It's still early in the afternoon yet, and Sensei dismisses us to return to our homes.

"You want to come over for dinner later?" I ask as Toku, Muta and I walk down the street, our shoulders brushing.

"Maybe tomorrow?" Muta says, picking at his new flak jacket. "I don't know what Okaa-san and Otou-san want to do tonight."

"Yeah, I kind of want to eat with Koma-nii tonight so I can pick his brain for more ninjutsu training." Toku draps an arm over my shoulder and smiles. "I'm sure you want to spend time with your brother today too. So, tomorrow then?"

I nod, and we shake on it. It's only really then that I realise, _I'm going home on my own two feet. We all survived._

* * *

"I'm home!" I call as I step through the door and set my sandals on the mat. The Triplets are dancing all around me, and race off towards rooms we haven't seen in well over a month. I set my pack down by the kitchen door, and pad through the house barefoot.

"NEE-CHAN!" A small brown and tan blur tackles me with intense force, clinging to my middle like a limpet. "Nee-chan was gone for so long." Kiba turns his big brown eyes up at me, and I see the tears sparking inside them. "Didn't like it." He mumbles as he hugs me as though attempting to stick himself to me like a piece of gum. My lips curl up in a smile. _I'm going to stay home for a long, long time after this, Kiba-chan._

"Kiba-chan." I say, and hug him back just as fiercely. "Tell me about what you did while I was gone?"

He frowns. "I ran into the meanie again." He crosses his arms over his chest. "But this time I could definitely prove that Nee-chan was best." _Oh, oh no, Kiba-chan what were you doing to Sasuke in my absence?_

I sit down on the floor with him, and tickle him until he shrieks with laughter and lunges at me with a war cry on his lips. We roll around on the kitchen floor like puppies, unfortunately for my little brother, I'm wearing much more than he is, and mesh shirts did prevent small fingers from reaching their destinations.

Kaa-san and Kuromaru step through the kitchen door as we crash through a kitchen chair.

"Hana." We pause for a moment, Kaa-san's fierce glare a deterrent in our games. "Kiba." There's a long expectant pause as we wonder just what punishment Kaa-san would think up for breaking a chair. "Carry on."

Kuromaru pads down the hallway towards Kaa-san's room, and Kaa-san herself sits down in the doorway. Kiba and I look at each other.

And then we are at it again, but we do pay more attention to the location of the chairs.

* * *

 **A.N.** Hana's home again, and there's change afoot.

Thanks so much to n1ghtdr34m3r, WhiteFang001, Snidekick, adi, and ArturolLJ50 for reviewing! (Oh, and I did fix the problem you mentioned regarding Earth Release: Earth Release. Didn't sleep enough while writing that part.)

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed! I'm grateful to you all.

~Tavina.


	24. New Team Six Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

We meet up the next morning in front of the Aburame Compound as our last official day as Team Six. Muta chose to forgo wearing his new flak jacket, instead opting for the simple tan high collared jacket of our earlier days. We all look the same as we usually did, I'm still wearing my tan shirt and shorts, and Toku has his casual hoodie.

"We'll always be Team Tan." Toku bumps shoulders with Muta and trails his hands through Ni's fur. His other arm is slung around my shoulder and we move with a casual unity down the street. "That's never going to change."

Muta smiles at him and then at me. "I know."

We walk onward together, but there's a change in the air, a sort of charged energy that hadn't manifested before. _Tomorrow everything will change._

"You better show up at the Hyuga compound on Saturday." I say to Muta, trying desperately to blink back tears. "Koma-senpai promised to oversee taijutsu training."

He looks at me, and very carefully brushes a stray tear from my cheek. "I will."

* * *

We stop at Sensei's house for breakfast. Muta leaves his glasses on the counter when we enter the kitchen, unzips his jacket and leaves it over the back of a kitchen chair. "Look at you three." Kiho-baachan squishes our each of our cheeks together in turn. "All grown up aren't you?" She sets a breakfast tray down for the Triplets and shoos us toward the kitchen table. "Sit down, I'll go rouse the eternally sleeping Waste of Space."

Toku muffles a snort. "Of course, Sensei's sleeping in on the one day we aren't slated to do anything."

I giggle. "Maybe we showed up too early."

"Perhaps Sensei will be annoyed that we disturbed his precious sleep time." Muta's lips tilt upwards in a shallow smile, and his golden eyes are alight with mischief. "You two should do this to Sensei with whomever I'm replaced with." _You'll never be replaced, Muta._

"You won't be replaced." I set my hand over his and look him in the eye. "You're a part of Team Six. No one will ever change that."

"Yes, Muta-kun, take Hana-chan's advice or I'll feel like I taught you nothing this past year and a half." Sensei slouches his way into the kitchen with Kiho-baachan prods his back.

"Hurry up Space Waster. We haven't got all day, you know." She says it good naturedly, and we can tell she isn't angry, just impatient, as Kiho-baachan often is with Sensei.

He turns back to look at her with narrowed eyes and a yawn. "If I hurry I'll miss the subtlety in your cooking, Vicious Hag."

Kiho-baachan goes pink and I'm reminded of just how much they actually care for each other despite the terrible nicknames that must have been a product of their childhood together on a team.

Sensei turns to us. "So what do you three want to do today?"

Toku groans and slams his head against the wooden table. "Anything, anything at all, but En-sensei please never make us dig through a manure pile ever again."

There's an unholy gleam in Sensei's eye as he considers it. "Nah, I can't promise you that. It'll get rid of a prime source of entertainment for me."

Toku peels himself off the table just enough to glare balefully at Sensei. "I still smell like manure no matter how much I wash."

I giggle and Muta chokes on his water, so I pound his back. "It's been months since the last manure expedition, Toku!" I stick my tongue out at him. "It just goes to show that you can corrupt the Hyuga but you can't take away his sense of cleanliness."

Toku growls and lunges towards me. "Haven't I been corrupted enough, Dog Girl?"

I shriek and evade him by hiding behind Sensei. "Never!"

* * *

We wander around Konoha afterwards with no real destination in mind. In the end, we take a D-rank mission, painting fences is alright enough as an activity given that we were already tan, and it is a good way to pretend that we were having a normal team day.

The Hokage notices Muta's lack of flak jacket, I'm sure. They don't call him the God of Shinobi because he's an old man with a village to run and a pipe to smoke. But he says nothing of it, or our indulgence in extra bonding time that could no longer be called team bonding.

"Pass me a paintbrush please, Sensei?" I look up from mixing the different shades of paint with a stirring rod. "At this rate, we'll not be able to finish before lunch, and I know how much you love the dim sun at Mufu-an."

Supposedly, Sensei is helping the boys paint the fence. He's just...painting very slowly, as if each brush stroke's precision meant life or death. I am not amused. He turns to me with reproach in his eyes. "I liked it better when you respected my authority, Hana-chan."

"But Sensei, I only respect authority when you actually have it." I swipe his paintbrush from his loose fingers and happily set about painting the fence rather hapazardly. Sensei winces. "You have to admit, most of the time you just happen to be the oldest joker."

"Hmm...perhaps." He lies down on the ground very casually next to the can of paint I was mixing, and stirs it lazily without looking at it. "I don't know if I like what Hokage-sama's trying to sell."

"Is it about team placements?" Toku leans in to our conversation. "Because if there is a possibility, I would personally vote to leave Kasuga behind on a mission if he ends up here with us, since I'm not as nice as Hana-chan or Mu-kun."

Sensei sits up just enough so he can look Toku in the eye while chastising him. "You are not to prove yourself cut from the same cloth as him, Tokuma-kun. Else I might actually have to resign from teaching altogether."

"No, you can't do that, Sensei." We chorus in unison, aghast at the very idea.

"Who would we be the ducklings to?" I ponder.

"Who would be our second mother?" Muta wonders.

"Who would nag us until we did something or other?" Toku finishes.

"Oh wait." We tap our chins in unison. "That would be Kiho-baachan." We shake our heads. "It's okay, Sensei, you can retire and Kiho-baachan can pound everything into our heads."

Sensei sighs, long suffering and miserable. "Yet, I love you three hellions more than my own flesh and blood children."

"You don't have any of those, Sensei." Muta quirks a smile that becomes all out laughter. "You only have us."

* * *

The next morning Sensei collects Toku and I before breakfast. "Come, we're going to pick up our new teammate."

Toku and I look at each other. _Does our new teammate not know where we meet?_ Shrug, and move on. Our shoulders brush and we walk side by side like we've always been doing so, but it's not the same. There is an empty space where Muta used to be, he'd gone on to tracking an hour earlier still.

So lost are we that we don't even quite notice where we've been headed until we are past the Naka river, and in fact, past the compound gates themselves.

The Uchiwa painted on every house is a bit of a giveaway though.

 _We've come to collect an Uchiha? What was the council smoking? Do they want Team Six to explode? The only Uchiha Toku even vaguely tolerates is already on a team..._

We've gathered quite a crowd by this point, small children not old enough for the Academy, old men smoking on porch steps, old women out with laundry or just gossip, young mothers watching their children, the list goes on.

All of them Uchiha, dark haired, dark eyed, and they go quiet as we pass by. The spectacle is unnerving. The gazes make me feel like there are ants crawling between my shoulder blades.

Sensei raps on a doorway. "Uchiha-san? We're here."

It's Mikoto-san that opens the door. _Wait, but Itachi already has a genin team?_

* * *

We're seated in the sitting room as Mikoto-san bustles around first handing out tea, and then calming a crying Sasuke, and then nearly running out the door after Fugaku-san because he'd forgotten his bento, but finally, she sits down.

"I'm so sorry to have troubled you to come all this way for Itachi-kun, Nara-san." She grips her teacup rather tightly, and doesn't quite look us in the eye. "And oh, you've brought both of your students with you." She makes sure to not look Toku in the eye at all.

He shifts uneasily and taps his fingers against my thigh- _Hana, I don't like it here-_ in Konoha Standard.

 _Grin and bear it, Toku._ I tap back. _Remember Itachi-kun isn't that bad._

I still don't know why we're here to pick Itachi up since he had a team, unless...unless he didn't have a team anymore. There were no mentions of Itachi's genin teammates later on in the series. If they'd still been alive after he massacred the clan and left them, wouldn't they have at least been upset enough to say so?

But no, it had just been Kakashi carrying a burden because they'd worked together in ANBU. I had an increasingly bad feeling about today, suddenly made worse by the fact that there is no Muta.

"There's no need to be so formal, Uchiha-san." Sensei drawls from his place beside us. "The tension in your shoulders'll give you back and neck pain."

"He's just not been the same, since the mission." Mikoto-san whispers as if though speaking louder would hurt the air somehow. "He's seen death before, but I haven't seen him like this."

Sensei gets to his feet, and gestures for us to wait were we are. "Where's Itachi-kun's room? I'd like to go speak to him."

* * *

We do make it to Mufu-an at a quarter past nine in the morning. Itachi had been dead silent the entire time, weighing down the team atmosphere even more, but he had gotten out of bed at least.

Mikoto-san had counted it as a win. Sensei...not so much.

"We are late, and the table in the back is in use." He slouches forward and groans while digging around in his pockets. "Where did I leave, ah yes." He waves a hundred ryo bill at a passing waitress. "I want the room I reserved."

"You reserved it for eight o'clock, Ensui-san." The petite middle aged woman crosses her arms over her chest and doesn't back down. "You're an hour and fifteen minutes late."

"Something unexpected came up, Fumiko-san, don't be petty. I don't even need anything special, just that table." Sensei has particularly good set of kicked puppy eyes that he uses on rare occasions when Kiho-baachan isn't looking, and as such this must be one of those times.

She takes the bill, glares at Sensei, and marches off. "Doesn't want anything special, he says. As late as Hatake, wants only that table, but it's nothing special."

We get our table.

* * *

Sensei orders four cups of rose tea and three plates of dim sun. "Tell us a bit about yourself, Itachi-kun. I think I deserve it after spending an extra hundred ryo than what I thought I'd be when I got up this morning."

"I'm not strong enough to protect anyone, yet." Itachi stares mechanically at his tea, and the steam coming off of his tea. "I'm sorry. I failed. There was a teleporting ninja who killed Temma and I couldn't help it." _Teleporting? Uchiha Obito?_ I suddenly have no desire to visit the memorial stone to talk to anyone anymore. _Did something I say about Itachi prompt Tobi to check on the Clan Heir?_

 _What did I do, and did it change anything?_

"Bullshit." Toku slams a fist down on the table. "You graduated the top of our class." As always when he's unusually angry, his Byakugan is half way active. "You didn't mess up, someone else did. There's no way that there'd be teleporting shinobi on a C-rank mission without someone with more power than you screwing up."

"You believe me?" Itachi raises his eyes from his teacup and for the first time that morning shows a hint of emotion even if it is only disbelief.

"I don't think you've become a liar a year and a half after graduation, Uchiha." Toku shrugs. "You've never been prone to telling wild stories, so if you say he's teleporting, then as far as I can tell, he's teleporting." Toku's still blunt and impolite enough to border on rude, but he isn't unfriendly despite the bad blood between clans. "And if he's teleporting and killing genin he's an enemy of Konoha."

Itachi had been too miserable to take issue with Toku's rudeness, but I doubt he would even if he were feeling normal. Itachi is forgiving in that sense. Far too forgiving, if what had later happened with Sasuke is a correct measuring stick.

I set a hand over Itachi's tea, and feel the heat of the steam on my skin. I needed some sting to keep me grounded at the moment, because really there's too much I might have changed by talking to Uchiha Obito because I wanted to remind him that he 'died' a hero. I might have made everything worse. "It isn't your fault that you were attacked by a rogue shinobi, Itachi-kun." _It might very well have been mine._ "We're hardier than you think." I do my best to smile at him, but all I remember is just how many people I've ripped a piece off of by now a year and a half into being a real ninja, that one kunoichi from Iwa who I had torn apart, and the last exam where I'd felt so victorious ripping out a teenaged girl's throat. "You can trust that we'll keep ourselves alive."

Sensei, who'd been watching the scene with discerning dark eyes, enters the conversation. "I need you to have a tangible goal to guide you toward it, Itachi-kun. As your sensei, that is my job. Your previous sensei may not have asked you this before, but I will." He tilts Itach's chin up, and looks him in the eye. "Why are you a shinobi, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi takes a very deep breath, and seems to find the answer he'd been searching for, deep inside himself. "Because I love this village, Ensui-sensei, and I want to protect it."

"A good choice." Sensei nods. "I'll do my best to help you succeed."

* * *

Our first team lunch is at Sensei's house. There are three children sitting around the kitchen table in the Nara-Yamanaka residence again, and it's only been a day, but the mood is truly awful.

It's nothing like the bantering tone we'd shared just yesterday. In fact, one of the children isn't even one that was here yesterday.

"Do...make yourself at home, Uchiha-kun." Kiho-baachan, normally so good with people is only capable of interacting with Itachi in very short bursts.

"Thank you, Nara-san." Itachi sits down in the chair that she pulls out for him.

She does not ask him to call her Baachan. She doesn't tease Sensei and call him a 'waste of space' or coo over her cute ducklings. She simply sets out all the different dishes she had made for lunch, which is no less delicious, and resumes her tense silence.

"I think the flower woman needs to keep a hold of her emotions, Hana." Ni mumbles by my feet. He's the only one of his brothers that elected to come with me today. Ichi and San are off on an adventure with Kuromaru since Kaa-san is staying at home.

"I think you need to learn more names, Ni." I stick my head under the table so I can talk to him more clearly. "You only know me and your brothers. You keep calling Kaa-san Kaa and Kiba pup and my teammates Bug Boy and White Eyed Boy. Clearly you do know names since you've called Itachi-kun Uchiha boy before, but now that he's on our team you'll devolve into calling him Red Eyed Boy next."

Ni huffs and does not reply. I resume my rightful position with my head above the table.

"I think that's the most I've heard you say at one time to one of the Triplets, Hana." I smirk at Toku.

"I say plenty to them, it's just not easy for you to pick up on." I suppose the more tactile ways of expressing information isn't someone who can see everything's greatest strength.

But there's plenty of ways I talk to the Triplets without speaking. My hands through their fur, a meeting of eyes, a pat on the head, a tapping foot, crossed legs, a smile, a frown, there are more ways to speak than just with words.

"I think the bond you share with them is special." Itachi smiles again for the first time today. It's a little rusty from disuse, but it's mostly fine. _He'll live._

"They're my brothers." I shrug. "My oldest friends, they have to be special."

Toku turns to Itachi and prods him in the stomach. "Come on, say thank you to Kiho-baachan for a wonderful lunch."

Itachi gapes at him, mouth wide open like a fish.

Kiho-baachan giggles with not quite her usual flair. "I'm sorry, Itachi-kun. Give me a little time. I'll get used to you." She reaches out to smooth down his hair, and Itachi very carefully allows it. I feel some of the tension bleed out of the air.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so now we have the New Team Six Arc. Only this arc and another to go before things start to get really interesting. I'd wanted to introduce another character, but he didn't make it into the chapter. He'll definitely be in the next chapter though.

Thanks to WhiteFang001 for reviewing last chapter. (I agree Kasuga's actions were kind of horrible, but I do have some idea of what sort of purpose he's serving in the story.)

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed. You guys are great.

~Tavina


	25. New Team Six Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

After we finish our second D-rank mission as a team, Itachi stops Toku and I with his hands hovering over our shoulders. "Kaa-san would like to invite you all over for dinner."

Toku huffs and slaps his own hand over Itachi's so that Itachi's hand actually touched his shoulder. "Alright, you need to stop acting like we're about to disappear." Toku turns with a grim expression his face. "We've been able to take care of ourselves before with a few near misses, but if you keep expecting us to fall over during missions outside the village we'd be the ones taking care of _you._ "

"Alright." Itachi pulls his hand from Toku's grip. "But Kaa-san did want you to come over for dinner."

"I'd be happy to." Ah, well, I wouldn't necessarily be happy to, the Uchiha compound is one big hazy mass of ghosts, but I would make an effort. _It's the least I can do, given what I've promised him._

Toku shudders. "No thanks." He looks at Itachi's crestfallen face and hastens to explain himself. "It's not you or your immediate family, but the last time I visited the Uchiha compound more than ten people were glaring at me at the same time." He gestures towards his face. "It's the dojutsu thing you know, there's a problem with being branch and all, and I expect Hiashi-sama will attempt to speak with me in person if I'm ever caught willingly visiting the Uchiha Compound."

I bump my shoulder against his. "You're rambling Toku." He turns to me with a startled vacant look in his eyes, and I smile. "I'm sure Itachi-kun gets it."

He drags a hand over his tired expression. "Blagh."

Even Itachi breaks into a smile at this. "I wasn't aware that Hyugas made such noises."

I grin. "Toku's a very special Hyuga. Mu-kun and I corrupted him early on in the aging process." I pause and give special consideration to Itachi. "Perhaps we'll end up corrupting you too."

Itachi looks mildly horrified at the very idea. "I don't think so Hana-chan."

* * *

Nevertheless, I am on my way to the Uchiha compound as the sun sinks to a few finger's widths above the horizon that evening.

"Wait, Hana-chan!" Cousin Ashi calls after me as I attempt to slip out of the door. "You need to take this with you." She moves more slowly now ever since she'd slipped down the steps while I wasn't home during the exams. The summer heat does nothing to relieve the aching in her bones and I know she shouldn't even be on the reserve roster, but my clan is full of stubborn people.

Our motto is thus: If we can still move, we will fight for Konoha when she needs us. It is why there are so many of us on the memorial stone after all.

I take the pot of stew she offers me. "I'm sure that Mikoto-san has prepared more than enough food for dinner."

Cousin Ashi frowns. "It can't hurt to bring a friendly offering to the Uchihas. They are so rarely welcoming after all."

 _It would be unkind to show up without some sort of gift, Blossom._ I blink back the tears that threaten to form, and hug her tightly instead. "Thank you for thinking of me."

She pats my back comfortingly. "Anything, Hana-chan."

* * *

I walk past the main gates of the Uchiha compound and pause there, uncertain of where to go next. I'd been here just two weeks ago with Sensei, but I had very little idea which paths we took being too concerned with the weighty stare of what had seemed like an entire clan.

Carefully, I balance the pot on one hip, and make my way further in. _Surely there's someone I could ask about where Itachi-kun's house is._

I take a few more tentative steps further down the path. The thing is, I didn't really want to ask someone who is blatantly staring at me. Doubly awkward is the idea of speaking to someone who is clearly giving off the aura of 'mind your own business'. Cousin Ashi is right. They are rather unfriendly taken as a whole.

 _If only at least one of the Triplets is here with me, they could track where Itachi-kun's house is just by scent._ But I had left the Triplets at home to play with Kiba, and I doubted that Fugaku-san or Mikoto-san would be pleased to feed three rather large dogs even if they are ninken.

I keep walking. _If Itachi's the elder son of the clan head surely he has to live in the biggest house? That's how this would work_ right? Still, the idea of just barging into the largest house and hoping that it is the right one sticks in my throat.

Finally I spot someone who isn't staring at me, in fact, he isn't even looking or walking in my direction. _Perfect._

I race forward to tug on his sleeve, careful not to jolt the pot and spill the beef stew in the street. "Excuse me Uchiha-san-" He's turning and suddenly I feel my throat clam up. I drop his sleeve because it's made of ice and snow and broken dreams. _Of all the ghosts I had to unearth today, it has to be Uchiha Shisui._ Who didn't know about the sacrificial son of the Uchiha clan? His right eye stolen by Danzo, his suicide by the Naka River... _A statistic. One of the many. A ghost._ And he is staring at me with a rather quizzical look in his eyes, which are incidentally, still in his head at this point in time. "Do you happen to know where I can find Uchiha Itachi-kun's house?" I finish rather lamely, as I shift from one foot to the other.

 _Why, why did it have to be yet another sob story? Oh wait, because this clan is full of them._

"I'm sorry, I don't give out my cousin's address to his fangirls." He's smiling, but his voice is so bland it might as well be plain boiled noodles.

 _Of all the-what did he just call me?_ I shift the cooking pot so that it rests again, firmly on my hip before I take two steps forward and grab a fistful of the front of his shirt. _You are not going to get away unless you tell me where I can find Itachi's house._ "I'm not a fangirl. I'm the kunoichi on his new genin team and if you make me late for dinner then not even Kami-sama will be saving you." I hiss at him through clenched teeth.

He pauses, blinks as if poleaxed and then laughs, and it's clear and free and it makes everyone around him want to laugh too. _So that's what the manga meant by nice. Oh._

"You should have just said so, Inuzuka-chan. I'll walk you over." He looks down at my hand. "If of course, you unhand me."

I feel a blush crawl up my neck. "If you say so, Uchiha-san."

"Shisui." I glance at him. He has his hands laced behind his head and he turns a cheerful smile at me. "I like you. You should call me Shisui."

"Alright then, Shisui-san." _Is he actually an Uchiha? He smiles cheerfully. I'm fairly certain that that is not normal._

* * *

As it turns out, Shisui is actually a regular member of Mikoto-San's dinner table which is why we were going in the same direction. I proffer the pot as I step through the door. "My cousin wanted me to bring a peace offering, Mikoto-san."

She smiles at me. "Oh that's perfectly alright, Hana-chan. Did your sensei and other teammate come with you?"

I laugh awkwardly and fiddle with the loose thread at the edge of my sleeve. "Actually...Sensei never comes to these things and Toku said he had something to do at home today..." _That's not really what Toku said, but a little white lie can't hurt, can it?_

"So the Hyuga doesn't want to visit us because we're so beneath him?" Uchiha Fugaku steps out from behind the door frame and I freeze, awkward smile still on my face.

I attempt to make my smile more genuine, but it's probably a lost cause. "Actually, Uchiha-san, Hyuga Tokuma is probably the least arrogant member of his clan that I know. He can't make it today because he doesn't feel that he'd be welcome wandering around the Uchiha District as an inheritor of the Byakugan."

He tilts his head, arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the door. "Who are you?"

I bow, just enough to show the respect required of me, but no more, because he'd been so _rude. Toku's genuinely trying not to make dinner awkward, but you're doing a good job of that all by yourself Uchiha Fugaku-san._ "Inuzuka Hana, Uchiha-san. The first time we met you said I took after my father." I straighten in time to see the widening of his eyes, but I don't know if it's because he thinks I'm unspeakably rude or something worse.

At any rate, things can only go downhill from here. "So you're the girl who ripped out her opponent's throat in the Chunin Exams." _Like I thought. It's only going downhill from here._

"Ah, well, that's what Sensei and the boys told me afterwards...I don't really know." My smile is plastic, and I feel the heavy weight of his gaze resting on my shoulders.

"Oh, come, Anata you mustn't scare Hana-chan." Mikoto-san sets a hand on his arm and guides him toward the dinning room. "Itachi-kun's waiting, Shisui-kun. He wants to spar after dinner today."

* * *

What follows has to be the most uncomfortable meal I'd lived through for two lifetimes. Family dinner at home is a casual affair with Kiba throwing rice balls at me so I could catch them for him, or Cousin Ashi's loud, open mouthed laughter, or Kaa-san leaning back in her chair and everyone feeding the dogs under the table.

Uchiha family dinner is a formal affair indeed.

I feel as though every thought any Uchiha ancestor ever had is pressing down at me from all sides. I'm sure Mikoto-san's cooking is wonderful. I'm just incapable of tasting a single bite of it.

"So, Hana-chan, what is your teammate like?" Mikoto-san is doing her best to carry a conversation, and at points she'd ask me some question or other. Generally, what was your favorite subject at the Academy? History. What is your favorite desert? Mochi. Who's your favorite person? Kiba. And so forth.

I pause, set my chopsticks over my bowl, and smile genuinely for the first time that night. "Well, Sensei's a not so typical Nara who likes to drink tea and moan about doing actual work while doing work, Toku's a corrupted Hyuga who laughs has bad posture and makes really bad jokes, and Mu-kun is easily embarrassed and is really fond of over analyzing situations..." I trail off as I recall that there is in fact a person on my team that I haven't mentioned. "And Itachi-kun's very kind." I say at last.

What could I do? I had already messed up by listing Mu-kun as a teammate when he isn't officially one anymore.

"So you still consider the Aburame boy a teammate?" From behind his bangs, Itachi winces. Certainly his father is no worse than he was portrayed. In the intervening years since the Kyuubi incident, it seems that Uchiha Fugaku had gotten more discerning, and exponentially more strict.

I don't look in Fugaku-san's direction when I reply. "He'll be my teammate until the day I die. I offer that same benefit to your son, Uchiha-san."

"Oh don't mind him, Hana-chan." Mikoto-san laughs airily and offers me more rice. "Fugaku's bad at speaking to children." _I'm not sure if that makes this better or worse, Mikoto-san. But they did say that he loved both of his sons._

I look over at Fugaku-san to gauge his reaction to his wife's words. His face might as well have been stone. _Well, no help for it. Might as well stick my entire foot in my mouth.,_ "You asked me earlier if I ripped someone's throat out during the Chunin Exams, Uchiha-san." My thighs are trembling under the table because speaking to the Uchiha patriarch is a bit like speaking to a mountain, but I keep my voice steady and quiet. "I do that to people who threaten my teammates. Your son is in safe hands."

Shisui whistles. "Brutal words, Hana-chan."

"Shisui-san." I frown at him. "I don't think I agreed to let you call me Hana-chan."

Sasuke lobs a rice ball in my direction at that very moment and I catch it with my teeth just by reflex. He shrieks with laughter. "Again! Again!"

"Sasuke! Apologize to Hana-chan right now." Mikoto-san has a hand over her mouth and she turns towards me. "I'm so sorry Hana-chan. Sasuke is normally so well behaved..."

Mikoto-san's horrified expression has me giggling. "No, it's alright. Kiba-chan and I play this game a lot during dinner." Sasuke might not have thought of it as a game, or even lobed rice balls at the dinner table before, but I catch another one and he looks around the table, searching out new participants in the game.

His father's glare freezes him quite effectively though. "Sasuke. Apologize to Inuzuka-chan."

His eyes fill with shocked tears. "Otou-san..."

I walk around the table to pick him up. Sasuke's surprisingly well behaved as a child. Kiba would be throwing a tantrum and wailing if anyone had dared stop his fun. Granted, Kaa-san never did, and Kiba is a spoiled little brat with a heart of gold, but still. "No it's okay, Sasuke-chan. I don't mind, but..." I lean in to whisper in his ear in a conspiratorial manner. "Maybe we should only play this game when your Otou-san isn't looking?"

He smiles at me, and when I look up again it's to the entire Uchiha family in residence staring at me like I'd grown a second head.

Fugaku-san actually cracks a smile, and it's suddenly as if the sky is falling because everything is so much more relaxed. The banter around the dinner table as I sit back down with Sasuke still on my lap isn't exactly rowdy, but it isn't the icy silence of earlier.

* * *

After dinner Mikoto-san, Fugaku-san and Sasuke and I sit on the steps as Itachi and Shisui face off in the yard.

"We're so sorry for being so reserved, Hana-chan." Mikoto-san sets a hand on my shoulder. "We weren't sure what to do when you showed up today."

I blink at her. "Did you not expect anyone to come?" I slap a hand over my mouth as soon as I realize what I said. _Oh Kami, I can't believe I said that._

Fugaku-san snorts. "Neither of Itachi's teammates or his jonin-sensei showed up the last time we offered." I don't entirely turn my face towards him, but the tiredness in his voice is clear. Through the corner of my eye I note now that the tension had gone out of his face, it is more lined than I thought. _He wasn't trying to be mean to me earlier?_

 _He's just bruised by past rejections._ And isn't that a strange thought to have? That Fugaku-san is, in fact, a human being?

"Well, I can tell you that Sensei really doesn't like to eat dinner at other people's houses." I tilt my head back so I'm staring up at the sky. "He seriously loves having his students over for dinner though. Kiho-baachan's a wonderful cook. And Toku just really thought he wouldn't be welcome. He's very honest."

"Perhaps you could tell him that we'd be happy to eat with him the next time, Hana-chan." Mikoto-san's suggestion is hopeful.

I smile. "Un. I'll tell him."

But then a dog leaps over the garden gate heading straight in my direction. It's not one of the Triplets. The dog's fur is tan, not gray. For another...he's wearing a blue vest with a henohenomoheji so I have a fairly good idea of whose dog he is.

"Are you the girl with food?" I blink.

"Huh?" His jaws close around my wrist and he proceeds to very gently drag me away from the Uchihas. "We need your help, please come."

I toss a helpless look back at the Uchihas still sitting on the porch. "I'm sorry, I'll be back later, Mikoto-san, Fugaku-san."

And then I am dragged by one of Kakashi's dogs off into the night.

* * *

We take to the rooftops after leaving the Uchiha district. "Could you tell me more specifically what you need me for?" I ask as we clatter over one of the residential areas. "That and a name would be nice too."

The dog turns back to look at me. "I'm Guruko, and we need your help to get Kakashi to the hospital."

I nearly fall off of the roof. "What makes you think that I can possibly get him to go anywhere he doesn't want to go?"

"You have a good history regarding our summoner." Guruko stops and waits for me to climb back onto the roof tiles. "Three years ago you dragged him to your house and prevented him from drowning. A year and a half ago he offered you information regarding his genin teammates who he hates talking about. Not two months ago he allowed you to see his injuries and didn't kick you out when you forcibly made him food, _and_ gave you advice. I'd say your history with Kakashi has been fairly smooth sailing."

I feel my right eyebrow rise a whole lot higher than my left. "You call that good?" I stand up and dust off my shorts. "Well. Let's go attempt to persuade someone who could kill me with both hands tied behind his back to visit the last place on earth that he'd like to be, shall we?"

Guruko has the good grace to look ashamed of himself. "If I had another solution, we'd use that one."

 _Oh, lovely. Just what I need._

* * *

Guruko opens the door of Kakashi's apartment from the inside and lets me in. There's no light on, just some pale moonlight falling over the floor and the bare walls and table.

"What're you doing..." Kakashi is...collapsed, and bleeding and his one visible eye as a sort of shocked vacant thing going on. _Oh goody._ "Guruko."

I walk towards him very cautiously, the same way a mouse might try to approach a cat if mice even dared to approach cats to begin with. "Kakashi-san?"

His singular eye focuses briefly on me. "Why're you here?" I can't quite place his tone. _Not annoyed...not annoyed...maybe...guilty? But why would he be guilty?_

Very, very careful to make no sudden movements I kneel down beside him and find that the floor is actually sticky. _Don't think about blood. Don't think about blood. Don't think-ah yes, thank you denial, my old friend._ "Let's go to the hospital shall we?" I smile down at him while attempting to slide an arm under his shoulders. _Where is he bleeding from? Can I bandage that with something? Why on earth is he bleeding this bad to begin with?_

 _How in Kami's name did the gate guards not catch this?_

 _Right, because Kakashi is a first class troll._

My remaining hand, which I'd been about to set on his other shoulder to begin the attempt to move him is caught firmly in his grip. "You know how to heal." _What? No I don't? I've never learned anything to do with medical ninjutsu..._

"Oh for Kami's sake I am not _Nohara Rin_!" That-is a very wrong thing to say when dealing with an injured Hatake Kakashi because he's slammed me against a wall with a kunai at my throat the next instant.

"Who are you." I glare at Guruko who's still cowering in a corner. _This is all your Kami-damned fault. If I live to see the dawn tomorrow I will murder you slowly._

"I'm _Hana_." I all but growl at him and jab him in the stomach. He lets go- _that must be where he's injured_ -and I sling an arm over my shoulder. "Now let me take you to the hospital or you won't live to see the sunrise, Kakashi-san." I turn to Guruko. "Go tell Konoha General that we're coming and that they should look for us somewhere between here and there."

I want very badly to just leave him alone. He'd far too many issues with mistaking me for someone long dead whenever he is weirdly not in control of his mental state. But I can't. _If I'm the only one his dogs could think to find, what does that say about the rest of his acquaintances?_

So since I can't leave him, we walk.

* * *

I am rescued by some paramedics on our way to the hospital. Unfortunately, Kakashi is a bad patient even when half conscious, and he's devolved into thinking that I bear some resemblance to someone who is very dead.

Thus, I too am dragged along for the ride else he might actually kill himself resisting care.

"Excuse me?" I tap one of the passing nurses on the shoulder. "Can you tell Kaa-san that I'm safe, but in the hospital because there's an irritating scarecrow to look after?" Now that I think about it, it might be too late for that.

The bellowing downstairs says that I'm probably right.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY DAUGHTER'S IN THE HOSPITAL?!" Kaa-san's storming up the steps.

I run over to her instead of continuing a now rather useless conversation with the nurse. "Kaa-san, I'm alright. Nothing happened."

She looks down at my bloody shirt and stained knees, and pulls me into a hug. "What happened to you, Little Nose?"

I close my eyes and count to ten. Then I open them again. "One of Hatake-san's nin dogs wanted me to take him to the hospital. I can only assume that his latest mission went very bad."

She pulls back, but still holds me by the shoulders. "Why does it have to be you?"

I shrug. "I don't know, but Guruko was fairly certain that he'd kill some other people if they were brought in to try and help him." _Not entirely sure if that's the truth, but really, who am I to question the dog I still have to kill?_

"Why did you go?" Kaa-san's got me in another bone crushing hug, and I don't want her to ever let go.

"Well, I couldn't just let him die. It wouldn't be efficient." Fatigue overcomes me, and my eyes slide shut. "Hokage-sama would be mad if someone so important died in his own apartment without anyone to help."

Kaa-san's chuckle sounds more like a growl promising vengeance. "I'll have to speak to the boy about what is and isn't acceptable." She traces the scratch on my neck with idle fury. "This isn't acceptable."

By this point, I'm too tired to protest. "Okay." I sigh and slip deeper into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **A.N.** So we get meet the Uchihas and Kakashi's an idiot all in one four thousand word chapter. I think it went over fairly well, all things considered. (Now most of the time Kakashi doesn't exhibit such idiocy, but he and Hana meet very occasionally over the years, and it's mostly when he's some form of moronic, so she's less inclined to believe he isn't a troll.)

Thanks to WhiteFang001 for reviewing!

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed.

As always, I'm open to your thoughts.

~Tavina


	26. New Team Six Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

"Nee-chan?" Kiba blinks sleepily at me as I slip out of bed. "Where're you going?" He'd fallen asleep in my room last night still waiting for me to come home, and I didn't have the heart to put him back in his own bed. Thus he'd stayed.

I tap him on the nose. "Go back to sleep, Kiba-chan." He looks mutinous so I ruffle his hair and smile widely at him. "I'll be back for our morning run alright?"

At this, he nods. "Alright." He wraps an arm firmly around Ni's neck and snuggles happily. "I'll wait for Nee-chan."

San huffs and moves closer to Kiba. "It's cold, Hana."

Only Ichi rises with the sun like I do. "You want to go don't you?"

I look at him. "Of course. I can't just leave Kakashi-san in the hospital without seeing how he's doing."

When I enter the kitchen to brew tea, I find Kaa-san already there with a cup of coffee and dark circles under her eyes, her mascara not yet applied. "Good morning, Hana-chan."

Food for all the dogs in the house had been laid out already, and it seems that Kaa-san hadn't yet had breakfast.

"Good morning, Kaa-san." I pull the pan from its hook and start frying eggs. "I planned to go visit, Kakashi-san in the hospital this morning so I can murder one of his nin dogs." I turn towards Kaa-san. "How many did you want?"

"Good. The Hatake brat deserves it." The vehemence in her response surprises me. "And about five would be nice." I turn back to look at her, her tired eyes finding my face. "You have no idea what a mess I made of our relations with the Uchiha Clan yesterday."

 _Oh. Right. If Kaa-san figured out that I was in the hospital she had to first discover that I wasn't with the Uchihas. I can't imagine what sort of explosions went down yesterday between Fugaku-san and Kaa-san._

"And of course, Fugaku's still as much of a stick in the mud since our war unit days. He's worse than Hizashi, I swear." Kaa-san flips a piece of hair out of her face and stretches. "It's a wonder our team held together long enough to take Iwa out during the war. We had four self inflicted injuries in the first week."

"It isn't Kakashi-san's fault that his nin dogs didn't know who else to fetch." It's a lame response to be sure. _Wait. Kaa-san was on a team during the war with Neji's father and the Uchiha clan head?_

Kaa-san snorts as she sets her coffee down. "It's not his fault he has no friends because he's got a psyche ward baffled at how he's still a functioning human being instead of a ball of angst?" I set a plate of eggs before her and she continues. "He needs to stop being ANBU or he'll kill himself real soon."

"Hmm." I snag an egg off of the plate. "What did you say to him yesterday? And you were on a team with Fugaku-san and the Head of the Branch Hyugas?"

She smacks half heartedly at my hand. "Nothing you need to know about." Kaa-san props her head up with an arm and watches the steam rise from her coffee cup. "And yeah, we were a team together. Not very good at it, but enough. We don't talk anymore really."

Not every team is as close as the Rookie Nine and Team Gai, but I had thought Kaa-san's own team would have been closer than how distantly she refers to them. "I mean, I was always spending my time with Kihona and Kaito and even that lazy ass Nara anyway." Kaa-san waves a hand in the general direction of the great outdoors. "Kosshi-neechan was their original third, but she had maternity leave, so I was her replacement."

"Oh." They weren't a genin team together then, but my Aunt Kosshi probably had been. It did explain her stiff and formal personality if she practically grew up with two rather strict boys as company. "Who was on your genin team? We never talk about them."

"They're dead." Kaa-san says flatly, and sets her now empty cup in the sink. "I didn't like them but they were still my teammates."

I don't know how to say sorry for bringing up such clearly painful memories so I hug her tightly on her way out the door. She ruffles my hair. "Don't worry about it, Little Nose."

* * *

I take a walk down to Konoha General at about five o'clock that morning. The air is crisp, and I intend to be back in time for breakfast with Kiba and our morning run together, but first, I have to figure out what Kaa-san had said to Kakashi after he woke up from surgery.

The only way to figure that out would be to ask Kakashi himself, and I'm not entirely keen on the idea.

 _At least if he was awake, he isn't in any danger of dying._ I console myself with the idea that he wouldn't be dead, and if he were in the hospital still he would have a hard time injuring me without at least making himself worse.

Still, I pat Ichi on the head. "You'll protect me if something goes wrong, right?" Ni and San are still at home, cuddled around Kiba.

He growls. "If he dares to hurt a hair on your head, I'll rip him."

That...is less comforting than it sounds. "Please don't actually injure him any further, Ichi."

"I make no promises Hana-chan." He bumps his head against my hip and I scratch him behind the ears. "You will always be my pack-sister, and he is not pack."

* * *

When I peer into the room Kakashi's wide awake and his mask is on. "I'm not thankful. If you want thanks, you can go away." He turns his face away from me.

I frown. "I only want to know where Guruko went." _So I can murder him slowly since I survived the night._ I add silently to myself.

From beside me, Ichi growls. "Watch your mouth, brat."

Kakashi raises an eyebrow at him. "I'm much older than you."

Ichi pads forwards, one sullen step at a time, each taken with a deadly purpose. "If you bother my pack-sister again I will make sure that you die and no one finds your body." He sets one massive paw on Kakashi's neck. "Are we clear?"

"Ichi!" I set my hand over his paw and attempt to pull him off. To no one's surprise there is no budging him, not without using chakra supplements. "Ichi, don't do that."

Needless to say, the rest of my conversation with Kakashi is nonexistent.

* * *

"Nee-chan..." Kiba whines from behind me, huffing and puffing all the way until he reaches me. "It's" huff. "Not" huff. "Fun to" huff huff, "run."

Running at my normal pace isn't the best idea, so I sit down on the curb and pat the space beside me. He drops like a very small sack of potatoes down in the space I indicated. "Kiba-chan, do you want to be strong?"

He nods vigorously. "It's so I can protect Nee-chan."

I smile at the thought. _If all goes well, I'll be protecting you,_ Kiba-chan. "Yes, and other people too. You'll find people you want to protect besides me." _People like Shino and Hinata, and your sensei Kurenai, and Akamaru._

"Nuh-uh." He sets his head in my lap and flips over so he's lying on his back in the street. "Wants to protect Nee-chan most." He stretches his arms as far apart as they would go. "Wants to this much."

"What about the people that can't protect themselves?" I gesture out at the elderly man crossing the street. "What about the civilians?"

"Them too." Kiba wriggles his hand around in his pocket. "Baa-san is very nice. I'll protect her too." He pulls out a lemon candy partially wrapped lemon candy covered in lint. "Was going to give to Nee-chan." He mumbles. "Can't now." He looks up at me with tearful brown eyes. "Nee-chan wants to protect people too right?"

"That's alright, Kiba-chan." I take the candy from him and tuck it in my own pocket. "Yep, I've got lots and lots of people to protect." I ruffle his hair. "You're a very important person, and I'll always be here to teach you."

He laughs. "I know. Nee-chan's super busy." He sits up next to me. "But we do lots and lots of things together and Nee-chan's nice."

"You'll always be my favorite brother." I hug him and he squeaks. He doesn't tell me that he's my only brother, because we both know that it isn't true. I've got the Triplets and Toku and Muta. I have plenty of brothers, enough for him to know that being my favorite one is special. Finally, I pull back. "But you wanted to know why we need to run, right?"

He nods. "Running isn't fun."

"Well," I say as I stand and pull him to his feet. "Running will make us stronger so we can use the clan jutsu. That's why we need to run." He's listening intently, which is more than I can ask of Kiba for the most part. "We run so we can grow stronger, and growing stronger makes us better at protecting people."

"Oh." I can see the gears turning in his brain. "We should keep running then." He sets off down the street and I laugh and follow him.

"Not so quickly, Kiba-chan. You'll get tired soon."

* * *

Later that morning Toku and I wait for Muta to show up for team training. We'd been sitting around for half an hour in increasingly gloomy silence when Koma-senpai shows up. "We may wish to begin, Otouto, Hana-chan." He rolls up his sleeves and slides into position.

"No..." Toku comments absently, his byakugan active. "We should wait a little more, he'll be coming, you'll see."

Koma-senpai turns to me. "Hana-chan? Would you like to begin?"

"No, it's alright, Koma-senpai. I'll wait for Mu-kun too." I look up at his serene expression, and envy him in his calm. Muta is rarely ever late. But he's late today for our first meeting as just friends.

Koma-senpai takes a seat next to me on the porch. "I don't think he's coming."

Toku makes to stand up, but I set a hand on his arm. "Just listen to Koma-senpai for a moment, please Toku. There's no need to be angry."

"You shouldn't let your temper get the better of you, Otoutou." Koma-senpai looks at Toku for a long moment, and then turns back to look at the main gate, his pale white eyes glowing almost lavender in the noonday sun. "The tracking squad keeps irregular hours, perhaps he's on a mission today. It would be a waste not to train when you have the time."

I sigh and stand up. "I don't think Mu-kun would mind if we started early."

We never do get to figure out if Muta would mind or not. He doesn't show up to spar at all.

* * *

That afternoon, after some rather disappointing spars in which Koma-senpai had closed over half the tenketsu in both my arms, I head down to the Yamanaka Flower Shop. _Would Fugaku-san mind if I went down to the police station to apologize? I still have yet to figure out where his house is in the compound._

"Yamanaka-san?" I call out as I push open the door.

"Who're you?" I meet...a small blond haired girl with teal eyes.

Inoichi-san hurries out of the back room. "Ino-chan you know not to talk to strangers..." He trails off when he sees me. "Did my brother-in-law send you with a message for me?"

I shake my head. "I'm here to buy flowers actually."

The man gives me a beaming smile. "I didn't take you for the admirer type, Inuzuka-chan. What sort of love are you trying to convey?" _But...oh of course he's related to Kiho-baachan, and Ino has to get her personality from somewhere. It can't have dropped out of the sky._

"Actually, I'm here to get apology flowers for Fugaku-san." I tilt my head back so I can smile happily at Inoichi-san. "I left the Uchiha compound in a hurry after team dinner yesterday."

He thankfully doesn't tease me any further. "Shion, do we have any purple hyacinths in the back?"

"Yes, of course we do, Anata." A voice floats from the back of the shop, and Inoichi-san hurries in that direction. Meanwhile, Ino has lost interest in speaking to me, and floats around the front of the shop rearranging flower displays.

He's back again in a matter of minutes, purple apology flowers in tow. "I suppose you'll be heading over to the Uchiha Compound." He hands them to me in a glass vase. "You should probably take them in water, it's a long walk."

"Thank you Yamanaka-san." I bow to him as much as the bouquet would allow, and head off.

* * *

I'd never visited the Military Police Station before, but I do know where it is. Slightly south of center city, it hugged a bend of the Naka river, three streets away from the Hokage Tower. On the other side, is a slightly more upper class residential area.

I push the door open, and feel the cool air inside the station wash over me. Because of the water, the flowers look no worse for wear despite the trek I'd made with them in the dusty streets on a summer afternoon.

 _Now where should I go to find Uchiha Fugaku?_ "Could I help you with anything?" A bored looking clan member is stationed at the front desk filing his nails.

"Ah, yes, could you tell me where I'm supposed to find Uchiha Fugaku-san?" I peer up at him from behind the bouquet, but he doesn't look up.

"And what is the purpose of your visit?" He's actually fairly rude now that I think about it.

"That's a personal matter Uchiha-san." I don't exactly snap at him, but he's startled into looking at me for the first time since the start of the conversation. "Anyway, if you are unwilling to help me I can always tell him later." Well, actually, I couldn't. But he didn't need to know that.

He straightens up and sets the nail filer down. "Now, little dog girl, Fugaku-sama is actually busy so-"

"That's enough Inabi." Fugaku-san himself appears from a darkened hallway. Inabi falls silent, and Fugaku-san and I stare at each other for a long time.

He makes a small gesture for me to follow him, and I set off down the hallway, still trailing purple flower petals in my wake.

* * *

We enter what I assume to be his office, and my arms are becoming very tired of carrying the vase so I set it down on the edge of his desk. I couldn't have put it anywhere else even if I wanted to because there is literally no space on his desk whatsoever. _I doubt even the Hokage has this much paper work. What's going on in here?_

He raises an eyebrow in my direction, and I feel an impulsive need to defend myself. "I'll move it later if you'd like, Fugaku-san, but I do apologize for leaving in a hurry yesterday." There is no change in his facial expression. "And for Kaa-san's outburst." I add.

"Do you even know what Tsume said?" I wasn't aware that a voice with no inflection could be this terrifying.

I straighten my shoulders. "I know my Kaa-san well enough, Fugaku-san. I've lived with her all my life, you know." _This life. Not the last one. But this one._ "I'm well aware that she can be both impulsive and unkind."

"So you bring me flowers." He's uncrossed his arms, which has to count for something.

"Would you like me to bring them home, instead?" I ask. I reach for them, but he shifts them to the center of his desk next to a very small photograph that I can't see clearly, and displaces about three piles of paper while doing so.

"No, you can leave them here." _Alright then, Uchiha Fugaku-san. I have no idea how you feel about my apology._

"Have a good afternoon Fugaku-san." I bow and make my way towards the door.

"Inuzuka-chan?" I pause and turn towards him, but before I make my way back to his cluttered desk, he sighs. "Nevermind. Carry on."

 _A stranger in a strange land indeed. I know next to nothing about the vast sum of Uchihas._

* * *

"Are you convinced that we'll be alright yet?" I pull a piece of dango off the skewer and pop it in my mouth. Dango is not my favorite dessert, but knowing how much Itachi likes it we'll still be eating it years from now whenever we got the chance.

It's actually hard to imagine how strange it is that Itachi has such a sweet tooth. But then, people are often what we don't expect.

"Hana..." Itachi takes another bit of his own dango and sets his head on his arm. "I don't know why that man was targeting us." The look on his face is heartbreaking.

"Whoever he is." _And I know full well who he is._ "He's an enemy of Konoha. We'll grow up to make him pay." I smile at Itachi. "After all, we're still not sure if he's targeting teams from Konoha or you in particular or who he is or where he came from." Unfortunately, I knew all of those things regarding Uchiha Obito, and no one to tell without seeming like a crazy person.

"You're right." Itachi sighs and peels himself off of the table.

"KYA!" The loud squeal shakes us from our conversation, and I see a girl with...pigtails that defied gravity. "You and Itachi look so cute together...are you dating?"

"No." _And who are you anyway?_ "I'm the kunoichi on his genin team." Her face falls rather comically, and she turns and leaves hastily. I look at Itachi. "What was that about?"

"She's Shinko...and she used to be on Team Two." _Oh. Well that explained a lot._

"Umm... should I go apologize?" I gesture in the direction that Shinko had retreated it. "Would it make her feel better?"

Itachi looks at me for a long moment. "No, Hana, I don't think it will." He stands up and offers me a hand. "For someone who's so smart, you really can be clueless sometimes."

Alright, I did have a rough sort of bluntness after living with a clan that didn't care for the rules of propiety after eight and a half years, but that didn't mean that I'm clueless about people. "At any rate, did your Otou-san accept my apology?" That's the more important question after all.

"Apology?" Itachi blinks, confused. "Otou-san did not mention that you apologized." _He didn't accept it then. That's...very...sad._

* * *

 ** _A.N._** And thus we move on.

Thanks to EverBear01, WhiteFang001, CasJeanne and Lieutenant Paladine.

Thank you to everyone who favorited and followed. You guys make my day.

~Tavina


	27. New Team Six Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Kishimoto should keep Naruto. He's done a good job of making the timeline make no sense whatsoever.**

* * *

I'd forgotten, after years and years of living in Konoha, that there is another person besides Danzo that I never want to see in my life. But, as luck would have it, I run into him in the street. Or well, I've got my head in the clouds while considering Tou-san's scroll of earth jutsu, and I trip over an uneven bit of paving and go flying.

I'm caught by a cool hand. "Thank you very much-" I trail off as I actually look up at the man. He has long dark hair, unnaturally pale skin, golden slit pupiled eyes.

"It was no trouble Inuzuka-chan." His hand does not move, and I feel my soul tremble. _What does the infamous snake Sannin want with me?_ "Would you mind walking with me for a bit?"

 _Yes. Hell yes I would mind._ "Not at all, Orochimaru-san." I plaster the largest smile I can muster onto my face for the occasion. "Where are we going? Sensei's expecting me for dinner at his house." Sensei actually isn't expecting me, and there are a million and one places that I could be and it'll probably be until midnight til Kaa-san begins an active search for me.

If he wanted to take me, I suddenly realize with a horrified pit in my stomach. He could manage it with minimal effort.

"Oh no Inuzuka-chan. It's just down the street to the tea house. You know the one." _He wants to go to Mufu-an? Why? We've never met before._ He makes a vague gesture in the direction of the side street. "If I didn't know any better I would think that you're afraid of me, Inuzuka-chan."

 _You think so?_ "Oh, no, Orochimaru-san. I'm just surprised that you would care to speak to a lowly genin." _The fact that I'd rather run away as fast as possible has nothing to do with this._

He smiles, and I almost wish aloud that he'd stop it, because it feels as though there are an army of ants marching down my spine in tingling succession. "Not so lowly to have graduated so early, Inuzuka-chan. You were nearly chunin by age eight. That's quite an achievement."

Left with no choice, I walk down to the tea house with him, his hand on my shoulder the entire way.

* * *

Orochimaru already has a table reserved in one of the private rooms in Mufu-an and we are shown there silently as the matron sees us coming. "You come here often with your team and your sensei, don't you?" His tone's almost pensive.

"Yes." I reply. "Rather frequently." _Why does he know anything about me? Why has he commandeered me for anything of this nature?_

He sits me down. There's tea left steaming on the low table and mochi. _Practically no one knows that I like mochi more than dango._ "Ah, yes, I'm well aware that you care for mochi a slight margin more than dango." He chuckles at my expression and sits down himself. "I do attempt to know enough about a person before I talk to them."

The strangest thing that I can understand about the surreal experience is that he is wearing the standard Konoha flak jacket. "Why are we sitting here, Orochimaru-san?"

"The Hokage wants me to take another genin team. I attempting to figure out if the experience is going to be worthwhile." _What? Wasn't Anko the only person to survive his teaching methods?_

"Why me?" The words pop out of my mouth, and to cover my discomfort, I pick up the tea and blow on it without taking a single sip. Orochimaru had been almost a normal human being so far, but there is no way that I'd actually eat anything that he offered me.

"You happen to be an excellent example of the type of person I can stand." He tilts his head in my direction, and takes a sip of his own tea. "You are neither particularly chatty or vapid. You are not concerned with violence or blood lust despite being fairly good at both. You are remarkably level-headed and talented for a member of your clan." I take back what I said earlier. The most surreal part of this experience is sitting here listening to Orochimaru of all people, praise me.

It is surreal enough that I really needed to cut myself on a kunai to figure out if it is actually happening. Unfortunately that option is a bit impossible.

"Thank you." It is only polite to thank him, after all, he'd done nothing particularly _wrong_. Having tea with one of the Sannin is probably an envious activity in all honest. It just made me very uncomfortable given what I knew of the man. "But I'm not sure that you should be in charge of a genin team, Orochimaru-san?"

His expression is displeased. "Why do you say that, Inuzuka-chan?" And when Orochimaru of the Sannin is displeased, the very air is heavy with killing intent.

"Well." I whisper, and slide my fingers down the length of the table. "If you must find a genin to figure out if experience is to be worthwhile, perhaps you do not wish to lead a team of genin?" I look him in the eye when the air is no longer so tense. "After all, students do best with teachers that want them."

"I did want them." He stands and stalks back and forth. "I _did._ "

"You don't any longer?" His emphasis on the past tense had to mean something, and if he is going to pace back and forth and rant about it, then I might as well ask.

He turns to me with a foreign emotion swimming in the golden depths of his eyes. "They died." He says flatly. "I wasn't there and they died." _Um...who exactly died?_ "You're too young to know." He turns away. "This was an exercise in futility. My apologies for wasting your time, Inuzuka-chan."

Orochimaru vanishes in a swirl of leaves.

"Hey, Orochi-" I turn around to find yet another member of the Sannin in my presence.

"He left, Jiraiya-san." I point to the pile of leaves. "He was behaving rather oddly before he left. But he left."

Jiraiya considers me. "Aren't you a bit young to be interesting to him?"

I raise a very unimpressed eyebrow and cross my arms over my chest. "Orochimaru-san was referencing genin teams. Thus, he had to find a genin. I happened to cross his path this morning."

"Ah." Jiraiya nods almost to himself. "It's that time of year again." _What time of year? Does Orochimaru do this song and dance with another genin every year? What?_ "I thought he'd stopped since he was so obsessed with one of the Inuzuka this year." Jiraiya turns to me. "Do you happen to know if Inuzuka Hana is..." He giggles. "Pretty enough that my teammate would care?" _What._ My expression must have not been very complimentary because Jiraiya laughs awkwardly. "Vital research you know." _That makes this entire thing worse._

"Jiraiya-san." I begin, and feel a hopeless wave of despair. " _I'm_ Inuzuka Hana." And then I stalk past him because he's gaping like a fish.

* * *

 _I don't think Jiraiya-san construed Orochimaru's interests correctly. As far as I'm aware the man doesn't care about...romance? Especially not with eight year old girls?_ But still, the fact that Orochimaru had been...obsessed...isn't a good thing. _He'd worked with Danzo already by this point, didn't he?_

So by the time I run into Hisae-chan, the morning I'd been having largely revolved around whether or not I am going to get kidnapped in the near future. I had to admit, my future prospects did not look good if I am going to get kidnapped, but then I didn't know if Orochimaru saw anything important in me _to_ kidnap.

"Hana-neechan?"

I stop and turn around. There aren't that many people who call me 'neechan.' "Hisae-chan? What is it?" She also didn't leave the Aburame compound from what I understood about her life. Hisae-chan's perfectly happy to live in the happy confines of her family house and the hives.

She shifts awkwardly from foot to foot, her kikaichu buzzing audibly in the dusty street. An middle aged woman with a small child crosses the street to avoid us, and I want to slap them for making her aversion to the outside world worse. "I wanted to talk with you."

"Sure." I wrap an arm around her shoulders and we walk back towards the Aburame compound. "What did you want to talk about?"

"It's Muta-nii." Her admission is quiet, like all of her admissions. "I'm not sure how to begin."

My mind instantly jumped to the fact that Muta could be injured, he could have been hurt while on a tracking mission..."What happened?"

"Oh, nothing's happened. He's just different." She looks up at me, and I'm sure that there is earnestness reflected in her golden eyes despite the fact that I can't see them. "He's not like he was when he was a part of Team Six. I hoped you could talk to him." Quieter still. "He loves you so, you know. You and Tokuma-kun." The words warm my heart.

"Well, I love him too." I state simply. "He's my teammate. My brother. That's why you call me neechan isn't it?"

She smiles at me, a slight upward curve of her lips. "Yes."

* * *

I find Muta in one of the hives. He's mechanically feeding the kikaichu larvae, and doesn't turn around when I enter the dark space.

"Mu-kun?" I come to stand beside him in the darkness. Distantly, I realize that he's crying. "What's wrong?"

He turns to me in the dark, his golden eyes glowing faintly. "I don't want to talk about it." My hand stops, hovers an inch above his shoulder and I no longer know if I can put it down. It had only been a month or so since he'd become a chunin, but I didn't know. Not anymore.

"What's wrong?" The sight of him crying and loosened something in me. "Why won't you tell me?" _I thought we were friends for life, Mu-kun?_

"I said I don't want to talk about it." He knocks my hand away. "I already told Tokuma that he could go away. I don't need you to come and ask me about what happened too." Muta...only called Toku by his full name when he is annoyed.

"I'm not here to argue with you, Mu-kun." I tilt my head back just a little so I can see his face. "I just wanted to know why you were crying."

"Go away." He turns back around his shoulders shaking. "Just go away, please Hana-chan."

He'd made himself clear. I go, but not before I stop in at his family's house to figure out what was going on.

"I'll respect Muta-kun's silence, Hana-chan." Aburame Nao pats my shoulder. "He'll talk to you when he's ready. He always does."

The feeling that I get when I walk away from the Aburame Compound is the distinct feeling of lead swirling in my stomach. I bite my lip so hard I taste blood.

* * *

"So, plan 5 then? Just a standard grab and run?" I look at both Itachi and Toku. We'd been charged with retrieving yet another artifact of note by the Wind Daimyo, and now was the time to make a move.

"Yeah, sure." Toku stands up and stretches. "Are you going to be the one to take it?"

I also stand, the plain brown civilian dress swishing about my legs. "Yes."

"I'm supposed to be part of the distraction right?" Itachi stands as well.

Toku looks over at him with an unimpressed look. "Well, that's what plan 5 means, Uchiha. It means that we're the distractions, and Hana is the one who steals stuff." Toku turns to me with a grin. "Don't worry, this is going to go off without a hitch, Hana-chan."

I glance between Itachi and Toku. "Just please don't fight with each other when we're out there." They'd been...well...not fighting exactly. Just...they did not work as well as Toku and Muta and I wasn't sure, since there would be three chunin involved in the process, if we'd be alright.

"Oh leave it, Hana-chan." Toku slings an arm around my shoulder. "Even if Uchiha doesn't get with the program we'll be able to finish everything off no problem."

I poke him on the cheek. "You do not make me confident in your teamwork abilities, Toku." Itachi doesn't look entirely pleased, and I know he isn't entirely patient enough to deal with Toku. "Well." I say, and attempt to be cheerful. "Let's get this show on the road."

* * *

I snatch the artifact off the table and take off at a chakra powered sprint. Behind me something explodes, and something else catches on fire. _Oh boy. Please guys don't burn the city down._

"Hand over the artifact." A missing nin with a slashed Kusa hitai-ate appears before me.

I slide the priceless scroll of paintings in my weapons pouch and settle into a crouch. "If you want it you'll have to come and get it." We trade a succession of blows, I take a few hits with a kunai, but none of it is serious and only sets him up for Ichi to sneak up behind him and pounce.

Alas, he substitutes himself with a nearby stand of fabrics. "Katon: Great Fireball." It bursts into flames. Itachi's standing behind me with a hand still cupped around his lips. "Hana-chan are you okay?"

Ichi's leapt out of the way just in time. His fur is standing on end. "Don't do that!"

"Itachi!" I shriek as I throw myself out of the way. "You're supposed to be part of the distraction!"

In my haste I don't notice that the scroll has rolled free of my pouch. The missing-nin from Kusa scoops it up and flees down the street, and Itachi flashes through another few hand signs. "Katon: Great Fireball!"

Everything in the missing-nin's direction goes up in flames. _Wait. He still has the scroll._

"No!" I shriek and run forwards. "The scroll is flammable."

I flip the charred body over- _do not think about the smell of burning flesh-_ and paw through the ash. The scroll crumbles to pieces between my finger tips.

"Sorry Hana." Itachi whispers as he comes to stand beside me. "I wasn't thinking."

I glare up at him. "Of course you weren't thinking. I had that perfectly-"

"So. what did I miss?" Toku has the other missing nin slung over his shoulder. "And please don't tell me nothing."

I whirl around to face him. "We've failed the mission."

He raises an eyebrow. "We've never failed a mission. What's the problem?" Itachi shifts in place, and he's uncomfortable, but I don't even know what to say at this point.

I wave my hand at the charred corpse. "Well, the scroll of priceless paintings is completely ash right now, Toku. Considering that we were supposed to retrieve it at first priority instead of killing the people who stole it, I would suppose that we've failed the mission."

He catches my hands. "You have burns, Hana."

I meet his eyes and then look down at my hands. They are red and raw and only now do I notice that they hurt so very badly. "Oh." _I must have burned them trying to recover the mission objective._

Toku whirls around. "What did you _do?_ " He hisses at Itachi and advances, step by step with veins bulging even more prominently on his temples. "And don't tell me that our opponents did this to her because they're from Kusa, so I doubt they have katon jutsus to burn people with."

Itachi doesn't look him in the eye. "I'm sorry..."

"You're sorry? You're sorry?!" Toku darts forwards. "Do you even know anything about being part of a team?" There's a whoosh of air as he attempts to slap Itachi across the face. "You. Don't. Hurt. Teammates!"

The both of them freeze. Toku's hands still raised in a Jyuken stance, and Itachi's hands together in a seal. "You don't say." Sensei's sarcastic drawl sounds out across the now deserted square. "And what are you trying to do, Tokuma-kun?" Sensei turns his distinctly unimpressed face at Itachi. "And why are you attempting to burn your teammate, Itachi-kun?"

Both of them have the good grace to look abashed. Sensei rubs his face with a hand as his shadow retreats back to normal. "All three of you were completely disappointing." He turns to me next. "This is the first time that you put a mission directive above the well being of your comrades, Hana-chan. Why were you digging through the ash instead of trying to figure out _why_ Itachi wanted to protect you so badly? _What? Oh-h_ _is last teammates died because he couldn't protect them._

I can't bear to look at either of them. It's too much.

The trip home is a disaster and spent in miserly silence.

* * *

"Well, I think Hana-chan knows what her problem is. She can go sit in Mufu-an and think about the consequences of being irrationally angry at a teammate when a mission is still ongoing." Ensui-sensei casts a very unimpressed look at the two boys. "You two though. You're coming with me." He sets a hand on each of their shoulders, and frog marches them down the street.

I stand and watch them until they reach the bend in the street where it follows the river, and Sensei pushes them both off of the side. _Well, that is one way to cool hot tempers, Sensei._

I don't walk down to Mufu-an though. Instead, I turn down another street and make for Sensei's house.

Kiho-baachan is weeding the garden when I kneel down next to her. "We messed up, Kiho-baachan." I whisper.

She wraps a perfectly clean hand over my shoulder, little drops of water sinking slowly into my shirt. "Everyone does somehow. What happened this time?"

"I snapped at Itachi-kun. He'd pushed too much so we failed the mission, and then Toku and Itachi-kun started fighting." I feel my shoulders shake from the strain. "And Mu-kun won't speak to me and I ran into Orochimaru-san lately and I don't know anything."

Kiho-baachan flicks water at me. "You need to come in and stop hurting yourself so much over this." She pulls me up and into the cool darkness of the house. "Did I tell you about that one time when Chobee broke my dear Waste of Space's leg and Ariko-sensei was so mad with us?"

"Your team had suffered too?" The thought is almost laughably funny. The Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi are born and bred to work well together.

"Just because we knew we were supposed to be a team since very early in our childhood didn't mean we didn't have explosive arguments." Kiho-baachan giggles and dances around the kitchen pouring juice and pulling out mochi. "Ensui wasn't always so laid back, you know. He could get so _angry._ "

"I wouldn't call me angry, Vicious Hag." Sensei's leaning against the door frame, and the boys are hovering behind him, sopping wet.

"You were angry, Waste of Space." Kiho-baachan flips her hair over her shoulder, and saunters over to the still dripping Toku and Itachi. "Now, ducklings, let's go get dried off before I make your dear Sensei dry off my wooden floorboards."

* * *

We all sit down together for an afternoon snack later. Sensei's sitting back in his chair with a pleased expression on his face. "I trust we won't have any more meltdowns of the hurtful sort?"

We shake our heads. "No, Sensei." _Or at least, we really hope not._

Afterwards, Sensei retreats into the back garden, and the boys take their leave and return home.

"Sensei?" I sit down next to him, and watch the wind ruffle through the flowers. "I met someone, recently." I can't really tell Sensei that I think Orochimaru wants to kidnap me, because it won't make much sense at all at this point.

"And it doesn't have anything to do with the Hatake boy?" Sensei smiles at me drolly, and lies down to stare at the clouds hovering in the sunset.

"Oh no. I had...tea with Orochimaru of the Sannin." I join him. The clouds do happen to have a peaceful feel to them at this time of year. "He wanted to talk about genin teams?"

"He does that almost every year."

Sensei's words have me sitting back up again. "What?"

"He lost his first genin team at about this time of year." Sensei shakes his head. "It's a bit before my understanding to be honest, but every August since he's been kind of weird. After all, the first team he lost had his own teammate's little brother on it." Sensei sits up and looks down at me. "To be honest, losing Senju Nawaki is probably one of his biggest regrets."

 _If it's because of Nawaki, perhaps he didn't intend to kidnap me for an experiment after all?_

"Oh." I say. "Why doesn't anyone ever mention it?"

Sensei shrugs. "It's old hat by this point. Who would ever?"

* * *

 **A.N.** And yeah, Orochimaru is a difficult character to write. He does all the wrong things for the right reasons and all the right things for the wrong ones. That and explosions and fire, because I don't see Team Six meshing correctly right away. All good things come with time and they haven't had enough of it yet. At any rate, it's the first time I've taken a two day break before, so have a longer chapter than usual, at ~3800 words.

Thanks so much WhiteFang001, CasJeanne, and Snidekick for reviewing!

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed. I'm so grateful

~Tavina


	28. New Team Six Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sometime, though, I would like to own my own creative work.**

* * *

In the end, we do have to run merchant guarding because there just aren't enough genin teams for us to not do so at least once in our careers.

"Are you certain you want Team Six to take this mission, Hokage-sama?" Sensei picks up the mission scroll with his fingertips, taking great care to not actually touch it more than necessary. There's an aura of disdain that he radiates expertly at the scroll itself. Dreaded merchant guarding oh Kami. "I think we must be overkill for this sort of thing, aren't we?" _Sensei's so casual._

 _I'm not sure that's a good thing._

The Hokage sets his pipe down and looks up at Sensei from under the wide brim of his hat. "I will force you to do more work if this is your attitude towards merchant guarding, Ensui." _But then again, the Sandaime doesn't seem to mind it much._

Sensei leans back against the wall. "Ah, there's no need for that." He tosses the scroll up into the air and catches it again with a single hand. "Team Six will take the miserable bandit beating mission. Just please, I don't enjoy these at all so let's not do this too often." He waves a hand at us. "Well my minions, let's get this show on the road."

Itachi looks at me. "Is this normal for Sensei?" He shifts from foot to foot as if he's unsure that he actually said something so...rude. Well, rude for him anyway.

"Indeed." Sensei drawls without turning around. "I despise bandit beating. It's so troublesome." Sensei sighs deeply and sets a hand on Toku's shoulder. "Now, you three can beat the bandits, and I'll just do my level best to civilian walk the entire way to Kusa alright?"

I run just a little bit to catch up to them. "Why would we do that, Sensei?" My falsely innocent tone must have bothered Sensei.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "You're my minion what else should you be doing except my work?"

I poke his arm. "Asata-san is a bad influence on my wonderful Sensei."

"We're not your minions." Toku grins up at Sensei. "We're your students."

"Alright, alright." Sensei laughs, and gestures for Itachi to follow him as well. "Very well, my not-minions, let's get this show on the road."

* * *

We're protecting a merchant caravan which traded mostly in spices on the way to Kusa, the journey at civilian speed takes about a month. But because it's a long trip, our packs are amply stocked with clothing and spare weapons and other necessities. With our former mission luck, we made sure to keep an abnormally large supply of field medicine kits around just for peace of mind. At our current normal speed it would take a week to return. If we ran at top speed we'd be back in three days.

At any rate, it just gives Sensei time to walk lazily and moan about getting up early.

The merchant himself, a middle aged civilian man named Adachi Akihiko, does not find this habit of Sensei's particularly amusing. He's also not particularly fond of dogs, which makes him irritating in my book as well as the Triplets'. "Does he always have to do this?" He asks Itachi, who, now that I think about it, probably looks the most normal of us, and could maybe pass as Sensei's son if we were going with normal disguises.

What a sad fact of life that Itachi's actually the inheritor of a demon eye bloodline that activates based on negative emotions such as fear for one's life, misery, pain, and killing one's best friend and using one's brother's eyes. Such a sad fact of life that Adachi-san didn't know about.

"Sensei is a Jonin of Konohagakure. He's perfectly capable." Itachi responds, ever diplomatic, ever polite, although he probably doesn't even know if Sensei has that many fighting skills given that Sensei does not often exert himself enough to try.

"En-sensei's more than capable." Toku slings an arm over Itachi's shoulder and smiles up at the merchant man. "He just doesn't _want_ to try. That's different you know."

Adachi-san noticeably shudders when meeting Toku's eyes. I frown. "You should attempt to be more polite to your hired help, Adachi-san. We wouldn't want to dislike you."

From behind us, Sensei snorts.

* * *

Kusa is...well a grass land. Not that I didn't know that already, but seeing it and knowing it are two very different things. I'd never visited a grassland before, and the sight is a strange one to behold after Konoha's leafy forests filled with Hashirama Trees. The village itself isn't as grassy as the surrounding plain, but anyone who'd studied the history of the Third War remembered just how much horror had taken place here, between Konoha and Iwa.

The Fourth Hokage had slaughtered hundreds here in one battle, causing the tide to turn and the suffering to cease. Peace had been bought with blood.

Kannabi Bridge is here as well, and my thoughts turn uncomfortably to Uchiha Obito. _If he hadn't 'died' here would Madara have found him? Would everything be different?_ The answer is probably yes. Yes. Perhaps Kakashi would still have two teammates, a Sensei, and his Sensei's wife.

And Tobi would never have existed to haunt Itachi's eyes. My hands clench. _No matter what, I won't allow him to harm anyone I care about ever again._

We drop off Adachi-san at the market, and then immediately turn around to leave.

"Is there something you want to eat here?" Sensei looks over at the three of us. "Otherwise we can just go and find the nearest tea house. I happen to know a good one."

I smile. _No matter where we go, Sensei never changes._ "Sensei, if I didn't know you any better, I would think that you really really _really_ disliked tea."

"Impudent brat." He ruffles my hair. "You're lucky your Tou-san loved you so."

* * *

We're six days into our return trip from Kusa, and Toku's taking point at the moment, but his Byakugan isn't active. We're so close to home that I can almost feel my bed, and Sensei could smell the tea from Mufu-an.

"Tokuma-kun?" Itachi calls from behind me and the Triplets.

"Call me Toku-kun." Toku throws over his shoulder. "No one calls me Tokuma except you and people who don't know me very well."

"I don't think I should do that." Itachi sounds hesitant.

Toku snorts. "You sound like Hiashi-sama and the Elders. They're the only ones who call me Tokuma-kun like it's my real name."

Sensei has his hands laced behind his head, and he walks beside me staring up at the clouds. "Just call him Toku-kun, Itachi-kun. It'll make him feel better."

Ichi perks up. "I smell something. I'm not sure what."

I pat him on the head. "Tell me more about when we get home, alright?"

"Alright, Toku...kun." Itachi says. "Can you come over for team dinner next time?"

Toku turns back to look at Itachi. "Your parents wont-" And he drops like a puppet with cut strings, a spray of red rising into the still air.

"TOKU!" I shriek as I surge forwards, the Triplets half a beat behind. I take two steps before I'm caught, frozen, and behind me Itachi moans wordlessly.

"Tell me." Sensei drawls as he walks forwards, his hands in the rat seal. "Who are you?"

It is only then that I notice the masked man in front of us. _Uchiha Obito._ I feel rage dye the edges of my vision red, red like the blood still seeping into the dusty road in front of me. _I talked to you. I thought you were a hero._

 _You're nothing but a monster. A Monster._ The shrieking in my head reaches a fever pitch. _You ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A MONSTER._

The masked man takes a step forwards towards Itachi and I, and he and Sensei clash kodachi against kunai, metal glittering in the hot noon sun. "Who are you?" Sensei asks again.

Uchiha Obito's only reply is another strike. He's pushing Sensei back, back towards us, and the killing intent in the air is enough to make my legs tremble, fear and fury echoing in every tremor. Beside me, Ichi's fur stands on end, and Ni and San have retreated back to supporting Itachi. I turn to Ichi. "Run." I whisper. "Make for Konoha."

He looks at me with worry in one dark brown eye. "You might die, Hana."

"We need help, Ichi." I pat him on the head with a hand that trembles so badly I can barely raise it. "Run."

He turns, and with a burst of chakra enhanced speed that wouldn't stop Tobi's Kamui abilities in the slightest. But Tobi's not interested in one lone dog racing down the dusty road towards home and safety.

Sensei's on one knee now, a hand against his abdomen, his green flak jacket darkening a shade more each moment. Tobi raises his kodachi. "One strike." He says clearly, the first words he's said at all, and I know only that I can't let it happen. That none of this can happen. None of this has happened. None of it ever will.

"NO!" And I'm moving forward of my own accord, my arms thrown wide to shield as much as I can falling to my knees even though I know that I can't, I won't shield enough if I do. "NO!" _NonononONONONONONO. Not Sensei, please not Sensei. Never. NO._

The kodachi remains suspended in mid air. "Rin?" He whispers.

"Katon: Great Fire Ball." The words are shaky, but the growing heat of the flames before me covers the world in a red glow. When the flames disperse, Tobi is gone and only Itachi remains, shaking in his open toed sandals. He's breathing hard, red eyes looking at me with concern.

"Are you okay?" He asks, but I'm already turning around.

"Sensei?" I ask, my hands coming to a stop on Sensei's shoulders. His face is ashen, grey from blood loss making the green stand out even brighter.

"Hana-chan?" He raises the hand that's not against his stomach. "Are you hurt?"

I press his hand down so that it remains by his side, and scramble to hold out the bandages at him. "Here."

He takes them wordlessly, a cracked smile on his face. "I guess I'm not as good as I thought I'd be."

Reassured that Sensei will stay alive for the moment, I turn again to find Itachi hovering over Toku, who's still sprawled in the road. "Hana-chan, he's still bleeding." Itachi's voice cracks. "I felt a pulse but I don't know how to stop his bleeding."

I stumble to my feet, and race towards Toku. "Where's he hurt?" There's a long bleeding gash across his chest, and I pull my pack closer towards me and uncork the blood clotter. "Pass me your bandages. I gave mine to Sensei."

Itachi does so wordlessly. Now that I'm regaining more level headed thinking, there hasn't been as much blood spilled as I thought. _But it's still so severe._

"Hana?" Ni nudges my elbow. "Can I help?"

San whines. "We didn't do anything."

"You guys were scared." I whisper, but I spare no hands for them as I lather Toku's chest wound with as much blood clotter as I have available. _The sooner it stops bleeding the better._ "Run to Konoha. Tell them we need a field medic team as soon as possible, or Toku's going to bleed out here in the road. " They look at each other and turn running just as fast as Ichi.

 _We aren't far away. We aren't far away. Please. Please, please._

"Hana-chan?" I jerk my eyes back to Toku. "How bad is it?" He winces as he speaks, each word painful, each breath shallow and fast.

"Hush." I brush his bangs back from his face. "Hush. You've gotta survive this." My mouth tightens to a thin grim line. "We're going to find our vengeance, Toku. We're going to take him down."

Toku huffs, and then yelps from the pain. "We all of us couldn't take him this time." His eyes flutter closed. "We might all get butchered if we go hunting for him."

"We'll get stronger." Itachi whispers as he passes me two rolls of bandages from his pack, and helps me pull Toku up so we can wrap his chest as tight as possible together. "We have to get stronger. He's still after me."

We share a look, he and I, over Toku's slouched shoulder. _We're going to get stronger. Then, we're going to butcher him for taking from us._

"How is Toku-kun?" Sensei's wrapped his wound already, but he moves very slowly towards us. We're not far from him, perhaps six feet or so, but watching him struggle is too much.

Itachi rises to help him. "Toku-kun's been bandaged. I think Hana-chan has sent the Haimaru Brothers back to the village for help."

We sit there, in the road, as the sun gradually slides downwards towards the horizon. The only sound all around us, is Toku's breathing, labored and slow.

* * *

And the dark forms of Konoha's ANBU are descending all around us. "What's the status report?" A woman in a cat mask turns to me. Behind her, Bear and Bird pick up Toku and Sensei respectively, and hurry off in the direction of home.

"Sensei and Hyuga Tokuma injured, Cat-san." I reply. "Uchiha Itachi and Inuzuka Hana seem to be without injuries. We were attacked by the same masked man that attacked Uchiha Itachi's last team."

Cat nods, "Well reported." and pulls Itachi into her arms, and with a swish of purple hair disappears as well.

A familiar man with spiky silver hair and a hound mask drops down in front of me. "Your dogs are resting back at the village. They made the sprint back too quickly to be healthy." He offers me a cradle of his arms. "I'll take you back, Inuzuka-chan."

I'm about to protest that I'm perfectly fine, that I'll make it back on my own two feet, but he tips the porcelain mask down for a moment so he can pin me with a harsh look over the top. It is only then that I realize how badly I'm still shaking. "Thank you, Hound-san." I whisper. _How many rules is he breaking by taking off that mask outside of the village?_

He picks me up easily as if I weigh nothing more than a mission scroll. "No need to thank me, Inuzuka-chan."

But we both know that Hound-san is Kakashi, and that really, he calls me Hana-chan.

* * *

Sensei and Toku are both in critical condition. Kiho-baachan and the Yamanaka are in the next room over, worrying over Sensei, so Itachi and I and Hound sit in Toku's room instead.

He hadn't any immediate family to sit with him between his parents and Koma-senpai registered as out on missions, and Haya-senpai working in the operating room on a team that had come in merely hours before us.

Fugaku-san and Mikoto-san show up at about midnight to take Itachi home, and he goes without protest, but far too many backwards glances. "Make sure that Toku-kun's alright, Hana." He whispers as he leaves.

I nod. "I will. Go sleep now."

Kaa-san shows up to look for me at about one o'clock, takes one look at the man in the porcelain hound mask behind me with his hands still on my shoulders, and growls. "What are you doing here?"

Hound tilts his head to one side, but says not a single word, as befitting of the Hokage's personal guard.

Kaa-san throws up her hands. "Fine. Don't say anything to me." She stalks over and ruffles my hair. Hound growls. Kaa-san glares at him until he stops, and turns back to look at me. "They'll make it through, Hana-chan. You have to believe in them, alright?" I nod, and she traces her thumbs over the red fangs on my cheeks. "You're an Inuzuka Hana-chan. Our loyalty is in our blood. Our strength is in our hearts. If you believe in them, then they will believe in you. If you believe in their strength, they'll believe in it as well." She presses a quick kiss to my forehead. "I don't want you to lose as I have, Hana-chan." _But you get into so much trouble._ Her next words go unsaid, but they hang in the air between us.

I nod, and answer her, through the lump in my throat. "I know they will Kaa-san. Take care."

She takes one final look at me, and then at Hound. "Take care of my daughter."

Hound nods wordlessly without making a single sound. _He'd broken protocol by talking to me outside the village too. And Kakashi-san hates hospitals. Why is he voluntarily staying in one?_

My thoughts are a confused swirl of emotions. I hadn't parted on good terms with Kakashi the last time we spoke. My team had just been attacked by his former teammate that he still grieved deeply. He'd been considerate and is still being considerate.

We stay through the night sitting in the hospital chair by Toku's bedside in deep silence.

* * *

Hound melts away from the hospital with the rise of the morning sun, still without a single word. I straighten up, look over Toku's pale face once more, and make him a promise. "I'll bring back the rest of Team Tan to come and see you."

The trip to the Aburame Compound is purely torture. I hadn't parted on the best of terms with Muta the last time we spoke either. And from what I could gather, neither had Toku, but someone had to sit with him. Someone had to care, and I needed the other one of my best friends to talk to right now.

We'd sat together for Toku once before. Prayed to move heaven above and hell below that we'd never see him in a hospital bed again. He'd understand.

I want him to understand.

If he's forgotten, then I'd make him understand once more, just what it meant to be friends.

* * *

 **A.N.** This was a hard chapter to write, and it's left me quite exhausted. Confusing motives for everyone involved that isn't Hana. At any rate, we'll get the breakdown of stuff that went down next chapter after all the rush and angstyness.

Thank you so much to Snidekick, CasJeanne, Sis and May525 for reviewing. (And Narutopedia is the site I'm using as official date/fact manager, as such, I think Naruto's birthday is October Tenth.)

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina


	29. New Team Six Arc: Six

**Disclaimer: I only own Naruto in my dreams, where I am a person named Kishimoto. In my waking moments I realize that this is a delusion of grandeur.**

* * *

"Is Mu-kun in?" I'm greeted by Muta's father, Aburame Shoko, when he opens the door.

He pauses for a moment, and doesn't speak much to me. "I have to tell you that Muta-kun is not in right now."

I feel a vein pulse in my throat. "He's at home right now, Shoko-san."

He inclines his head. "Indeed."

"Why does he not want to talk to me?" I step into the hallway. "What did I do that makes him feel that he can't face me?" _Why? We didn't do anything wrong? Why doesn't he want to talk to Toku and I anymore?_

Shoko-san shrugs, a loose movement of his shoulders. "I cannot say."

I look at him, studying his opaque glasses and thin lips for any sign of emotion. I find none. "You cannot say? Or you will not say?"

"Both." Aburame Shoko steps aside. "I will let you ask."

I look down the long dark hallway, and take a deep breath. _It is not his fault._ "Thank you, Shoko-san."

* * *

"Mu-kun?" I rap on his door, but he makes no reply so I slide it open, and enter his room. The blinds are drawn, and everything is dark. Muta's a blanketed lump at the center of his bed. "Mu-kun?"

"Go away, Hana-chan." He whispers, and he sounds tired. So very, very tired. "Please." I do not understand him, but I see Toku's pale face above the crisp hospital issued sheets in Konoha General once more, and I cannot just go away this time. I cannot step away, because if I do, I will have lost Muta's friendship forever, even if he doesn't know it yet.

"I agreed to go away once, Mu-kun." I reach out to him, and he pulls away. "I won't go away anymore. You have got to listen to me."

"You don't know what they made me do." He pulls back until his back touches the wall. "You don't understand."

"Well of course I don't understand!" I throw up my hands in sheer frustration. "You have not told me what it is that you want me to understand."

"I don't want you to understand it, Hana-chan." Muta finally unwinds himself from his cocoon, and I see for the first time that he is completely covered in kikaichu. "I don't think you should come back."

My mouth flattens to a hard, grim line. "Like hell." _Toku needs the both of us, you idiot. Like hell I'd leave you behind._ "There's something eating at you. I'm your friend. You should tell me what's the problem."

He trudges over to his desk and covers his face in his hands. "Do you know what T&I is responsible for?"

 _Torture and Interrogation?_ "But you work in Tracking." I say, the words weak to my own ears. _Of course the prisoners that are captured by the Hunting Squads are returned to T &I, Hana. What the hell were you thinking?_

"Yes." He sighs. "I can't get the sight of T&I out of my head, Hana. They had me break someone because I was the nearest Aburame." He shudders. "The man was afraid of bugs. That's why it had to be me." He looks at me, gold eyes brimming with tears. "I love this village, Hana, but I don't know if I can do that again." _What is this village? How could anyone ask this of a teenager? Of bright, wonderful Muta who just wanted to protect his friends and his family?_

I cup his face in my hands, careful not to crush any kikaichu. "And if I ask you to stay my friend because I don't care what you did?" And it is true that I don't care. How could I? He is one of my oldest and dearest friends. How could I let him leave?

He shudders, but sets his hands over mine. "Then I'm still your friend, Hana-chan."

"Good. Then we have a friend to visit in the hospital." I pull him to his feet. "We were attacked yesterday by a masked ninja."

Muta slides his glasses on and pulls on his high collared jacket. "I assume that Toku will be fine?" He glances at me, judging my facial expressions. "And I'm sure you want to plan about how to permanently remove this masked ninja."

My lips curve into a fanged smile. "You know me so well, Mu-kun."

* * *

Haya-senpai is asleep at Toku's bedside, but the nurses tell us that he hasn't yet woken up. We don't want to disturb her, so Muta and I head over to Sensei's room instead.

"Sensei?" I call as I rap on his door. "I brought you a surprise."

Muta raises an eyebrow at me. "I'm a surprise?"

I nudge his shoulder. "Yes. You're now a pleasant surprise."

"Come in." It's Kiho-baachan's voice that answers us. We look at each other once, a glance of apprehension and concern passing between us, and then we turn and head in.

"Oh look at you!" Kiho-baachan surges forwards and presses her cheek against Muta's. "You have no idea how much I wanted to see you just now, Muta-kun."

He wraps his arms around her thin frame. "I'm sorry about what happened, Kiho-baachan."

"I won't die from it, Muta-kun." Sensei's propped up on hospital pillows, and his middle is covered in bandages wrapped far more neatly and tightly than the half hearted job we'd done out in the field. "Come sit down, you two."

We spent the morning trading stories until I become too tired to keep talking, and fall asleep cushioned on my arms. It had been a long night, and Toku hadn't woken up yet, but at least his sister is able to spend time with him now.

* * *

Two weeks later, the entirety of the currently active Team Six sits down in the Uchiha District for dinner. Even Sensei, who'd never gone to any of these team dinners before unless they were at his house is in attendance.

"Please, make yourself at home. If there is anything that I could get either of you to make yourselves more comfortable, just let me know." Mikoto-san smiles politely at both Sensei and Toku, but she saves a genuinely happy smile for me. "Fugaku told me that you gave him such beautiful flowers, Hana-chan." She turns and sighs. "He hasn't gotten flowers since we stopped courting. I don't think you know how happy he was." _What? Oh, of course, Fugaku-san would never tell his son that a friend of his had given his father flowers. It would be beneath his dignity. No wonder Itachi knew nothing about it._

"I'm glad to hear that, Mikoto-san." What else can I say? The more I thought I knew about Uchihas, the more they showed me how little I actually understood.

Fugaku-san himself finds me right before dinner is supposed to begin. "Inuzuka-chan."

I turn. "Fugaku-san?"

He's holding a hand behind his back, and for a moment I am concerned that he is injured, because the Uchiha Patriarch normally has excellent posture, but he pulls the hand from behind his back a moment later. "Itachi tells me that you did not think I accepted your apology." He practically shoves the flowers in my direction. "I assume you know what these mean."

 _Dark pink roses and rue. Gratitude and remorse._

I take them very carefully. There'd clearly been thought presented in the flowers despite how casually Fugaku-san had attempted to give them to me. "Yes, Fugaku-san." I look up at him. His face is exactly as stony as it had been when he'd been accepting my apology. "Sensei's wife was a Yamanaka at birth. I understand." I'm beginning to believe that Uchiha Fugaku did have emotions, but there is in fact, a disconnect between his facial expressions and his feelings.

And the fact that he knew such subtle shades of meaning between flowers meant that he actually had hidden depths and hobbies that I knew nothing about. It is only now that I realize how little I really know about the Uchiha Patriarch despite knowing what collision course his life is on. _What else have I confused about you, Fugaku-san?_

He unbends just slightly. "Good." He takes them from me, and threads a few of the blossoms through my hair. "You'll need your hands to eat." Is all he says to my quizzical expression. His job done, he turns and begins to head towards the kitchen. "We should go to dinner then, Inuzuka-chan."

"Wait!" I don't even really know what I'm asking for. "Fugaku-san?"

He turns around, but says nothing.

"I wanted to know. That is I mean." I fumble to find the right words. What am I even attempting to ask him anyway? "What I meant to say." I say finally, after I organize the thoughts in my head properly. "Is that I'm thinking of applying for a position in the Military Police Force after I make chunin."

Fugaku-san raises an eyebrow.

"I wondered if you would consider it." I finish. _Could you possibly be more lame?_

"I would consider it." He turns around again. "Make chunin first, Inuzuka-chan." _He doesn't seem offended. But then, I've just established that I know nothing about reading his moods._

 _Alright then._ "Thank you, Fugaku-san." I bow in his direction, even though I know he cannot see me. _Even if you were offended I thank you._

* * *

"I'm alright, Mikoto-san." Toku smiles up at Itachi's kaa-san with amusement in his eyes. "I'm just kind of embarrassed that I didn't even see the attacker beforehand."

Mikoto-san is surprised, but she rearranges her shocked expression into something more pleasant a moment later. "I'm sure you don't mean that, Tokuma-kun."

"It's Toku." He picks up a piece of mochi with his chopsticks and shoves it into my bowl. "Here, take this Hana." The next moment, he's back to looking at Mikoto-san. "I mean." He waves a hand in the direction of his face. "I've got these all seeing eyes or something that the Elders seem to think of as the next coming of Kami's favor or something. I should have been able to see a leaf falling in the forest from 800 meters away, but nope. I'm selectively blind."

Fugaku-san snorts. "And do you believe that your eyes are all seeing?"

Toku's lips quirk downwards. "Well, clearly they aren't." He sighs. "Looks like I have to go back and beg Koma-niisan for tips."

I nudge his shoulder with mine. "Remember that time when you didn't even see Mu-kun despite him being just in front of you?"

Toku sends me a shocked expression. "Oh, Hana." He shakes his head. "Why must you make me look worse?"

"You already put yourself down quite a bit, Toku-kun." Itachi leans forward. "You did nothing wrong, remember?" He sets his chopsticks down, and looks us both in the eye. "If there was a teleporting ninja on a C-Rank mission it means that someone else screwed up."

Toku waves a hand in Itachi's direction. "Yeah, yeah. Doesn't mean it wasn't embarrassing."

* * *

Toku's still the first to leave though. As the lanterns are being set out all around the district, he begs leave of Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san. "I have to go." He bows in their direction, deeply, and politely. "Haya-neesan would be worried for me if I don't arrive home before dark." He smooths a hand over the front of his yukata. "I haven't been released from the hospital for all that long, after all."

"You have two elder siblings?" Fugaku-san's remark is calm, but there is a small note of curiosity within.

"Yes. They're about seven years older than me, so they're established already." Toku smiles. "Haya-neesan is a surgeon down at Konoha General, and Koma-niisan works for the Hokage." _I'm so sure that's a euphemism for he's in ANBU._

"I see."

As there are no further words, Toku exits the garden through the gate, and his tan yukata-clad form disappears down the side street, into the darkening gloom.

"Fugaku-san." Sensei had been silent the entire night, preferring to listen to us speak, but he's looking at Fugaku-san now. "There's something I have to talk to you about."

"We should go back in then." Mikoto-san lays a hand on Sensei's elbow, and guides him in the direction of the house. "I can make tea. I've heard of how much you love rose tea, Nara-san, and Kagen just had a mission to Tea Country last month."

"You do know how to comfort people, Mikoto-san." Sensei laces his hands behind his head, and winces. _It must have stretched his still healing wounds._ "Lead the way."

That leaves Fugaku-san and I to walk back together, but that's not entirely a problem, as I still have his flowers in my hair.

* * *

Sensei blows over the top of his cup of tea, and sets it down on the table. "I'm not attempting to offend anyone here." He begins, and his hands slide into the thinking seal of their own accord. "But the masked attacker that I fought with had a sharingan." _Sensei got a good look at Tobi's eye?_

"What are you trying to insinuate?" Fugaku-san has also set his tea cup down, and he looks at Sensei with a hard glint in his eye.

"I am not insinuating that any of you are disloyal to the village." Sensei's fingers tap against each other. "I'm telling you that the man had _only one sharingan._ And we all know of only one person with a single sharingan."

"Hatake Kakashi." Mikoto-san purses her lips. "But your attacker cannot be the Hatake boy. He's in the Hokage's personal ANBU guard."

"It can't have been Kakashi-san." All heads at the table turn to me, and I find myself honor bound to continue. "Kakashi-san's ANBU Hound, isn't he?"

"What does that have to do with anything?" Fugaku-san raises an eyebrow at me. "Are you saying you know where ANBU Hound was during the affair?"

"ANBU Hound has spiky silver hair, and ANBU Hound was the one to carry me back to Konoha." _I can't let them keep thinking that it's Kakashi. Kakashi has nothing to do with how crazy his teammate's become. It's not his fault that his sharingan donor is certified insane by this point._ "He stayed with me in the Hospital all night."

"You didn't see them at the same time, though." Mikoto-san muses.

"I don't think it's Hatake Kakashi." Sensei sets his hands on the table, finally out of the thinking seal. "I've spared with Hatake. The chakra was nothing like his." _No matter the outcome of this conversation, I have to talk to Kakashi._

The whisper of Rin comes to mind once more. _If I tell him about both those pieces of information, will he come to a realization and tell the Hokage? Will I save the Uchiha this way?_

Fugaku-san slams a hand on the table. "Again, then Nara. I ask you what you think the issue is."

"You remember the masked attacker reported after the Kyubi Incident that Elder Shimura dismissed as mere conjecture?" Sensei leans forwards. "I think they're the same. Which means that it can't possibly be you. What could you hope to gain by attacking your son's team, after all?" Sensei takes a sip from his tea. "I think this is a set up to erode relations between the Uchiha Clan and Konoha."

"You believe us, then?" Mikoto-san's shocked words echo in the quiet stillness of the room. "You honestly believe us."

Sensei takes another sip of his tea. "Would I be sitting here and talking to you if I didn't?"

* * *

"HATAKE KAKASHI!" I shriek as I pound on the door of his apartment. "I know you're in there! Let me in!" _I swear to all Kami that I shouldn't spend so much time on you, but I can't stop spending time on you._

A finger taps me on the shoulder, and I jump about a foot into the air with a scream. "AH, LiTTLE BLOSom! I HEARD You WEre CaLLING For MY YOUTHFUL RIVAL!" I spy...a lot of green. _So this...is Maito Gai?_ A second thought follows the first. _Oh dear Kami, he is actually that loud._

"Ah, yes." _What do I even say to Gai? How is it that one person is actually this...I don't even know what this is._ "I have to talk to Kakashi-san about a training plan, that's all."

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL IS SO HIP AND COOL!" A rainbow appears in the background. I attempt a quiet kai. It does not dispel. "ALLow Me TO HeLP You wITH THAt."

"Gai-san..." I smile as brightly as I possibly can. "There's no need to trouble you. I have to see Kakashi-san about it today, that's all." His expression falls rather comically, and I hasten to add a sentence to my statement. "I know that he's in here and everything. He's just...playing hide and seek right now."

"WELL THen allOW Me to-"

The door jerks open, and I fall forwards with a squeak. "Ack!" I hit something very solid, but surprisingly not particularly hard.

Kakashi wraps an arm around me and pulls me forcibly into his apartment. "Gai, I challenge you to climb the Hokage mountain with your thumbs."

There are actual stars in his eyes as Gai turns around and races away. "If I CANNOT DO IT WITHIN TWENTY MINUTES I SHALL DO 1000 PUSHUPS!"

Kakshi slams his door shut and wanders over to his bedroom, still bodily carrying me with a single arm. It is very uncomfortable. He sets me down in his sad and singular chair and pads over to sit on his bed.

His apartment smells slightly less like blood and wet dog, and it's clear that he's gotten rid of the bloodstains on his floorboards. It doesn't make me see fewer bloodstains on his floor though. I had knelt in his blood less than two months before in this very room.

I never want to do that ever again.

Once we both are seated, he turns to me. "Talk."

"There are people who think that you're the masked attacker." I scramble to get the words out as quickly as possible, and it ends up being a single breath, so the end of the sentence is jumbled and marred beyond control.

"What." I am uncertain if he's just not heard the words properly, or if he doesn't believe what he's hearing. To be honest, it could be a bit of both.

"There are some people who think you're the person who attacked my team." I state again, a little more clearly this time. "Sensei only saw one sharingan on the attacker."

"And you believe that?" He sounds bored, like he'd like nothing more that to examine his cuticles or something, but he really isn't. Kakashi, despite his bored appearance all the time, cares deeply about each and every one of his comrades. I don't know where I rank, but I'm still a shinobi of Konoha. In some small way, I matter.

I cross my arms over my chest. "Would I be so insistent on getting to you if I did?" I move the chair closer to where he's sitting. "Do you honestly expect that I think that Hound, who sat with me by Toku's bedside all night is the same person who put him there in the first place?" I frown at him. "Are you actually stupid?"

"So why are you here to talk to me anyway?" And he's just so bland, as if none of this is phasing him.

I throw up my hands. "Because the attacker said Rin." Kakashi's visible eye widens with shock. "Just before the attacker nearly killed me and Sensei he whispered Rin, Itachi cast a Katon jutsu at him and he disappeared." The silence is so total that we could hear water running down the hallway. "Do you know that you're the only one who mistakes me for Nohara Rin?"

"It can't be." Kakashi gets up and paces back and forth in front of me. "It's a joke." His hand fists the front of my shirt. "You're joking with me."

"I'm not joking." I look him in eye. "Why would I joke about something like this?"

"It's someone who knows me." Kakashi collapses back on his bed. "They're desecrating Obito's memory. They've stolen his eye. They want to frame someone for something." _Well, that's one way to put it._

"Is Uchiha Obito the only other person who would mistake me for a Rin?" I have to ask, because I feel that this conversation is a bad idea after all. Kakashi's clearly far too shaken, and he still hasn't connected all the necessary dots yet.

"No." Kakashi shakes his head. "Obito is dead." He looks at me, sees my disbelief and grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me. "MY FORMER TEAMMATE IS DEAD. DO YOU HEAR ME?"

I nod. _I can't dispel this illusion._ My realization tastes bitter in my mouth. _It's the one thing that keeps him sane and willing to keep living. He needs to believe that he's seeing the world for Obito. Without it, he is nothing._ "Uchiha Obito is dead." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I believe you." The lie tastes like ash. "Someone's framing him to get to you." _If I ever get my hands on you again, Tobi, I will rip your entrails out your throat slowly._

 _Kakashi's worth an infinite number of you because you're worth nothing at all, but just attempting to tell him the truth will shatter him to bits._

 _You don't deserve him. You don't fucking deserve him._

Kakashi lets go of my shoulders and collapses back on his bed. "I." His voice cracks and breaks and seeing his bowed shoulders before me reminds me that he's only seventeen years old. _He's the age I was when I died for the first time._

 _I thought that I could take on the world back then. He's not really all that old at all._ Sometimes I forget. I've been a child for so long that I forget that seventeen is actually such a frail age.

I slide off the chair, and loosely wrap him in my arms. "I believe you." I smooth a hand over his heaving shoulders. "I believe you." _I don't, but I'll carry this lie for you._

 _And please Kami-sama. If you exist and you're out there, stop torturing Hatake Kakashi. He's been through enough._

* * *

 **A.N.** This chapter was a deluge. Honestly, I didn't expect half the things to happen the way they did in this chapter, but ah it happened and I'm rather proud of it. I believe that at this point in his life, this is how Kakashi would react to someone telling him that Obito is alive and evil. He can't accept it yet, because he's still so convinced that he has to see the world through his teammate's eye. I mean, if he's still late to meetings by hours on end because he's staring at the memorial stone by the time canon starts nearly nine years from this point, he won't be able to take it. In essence, Hana not pushing him further is a kindness.

Thank you so much to CasJeanne (I hope this chapter answers your doubts), Snidekick, Dreamy-Girl2016 (Glad you liked the interactions. More Kakashi Hana interactions this chapter), WhiteFang001, (Hana does spend a lot of time in hospitals...), Sam (Those were some of my favorite scenes to write so far), and May525 for reviewing!

And to everyone else who favorited and followed! You guys inspire me to write more!

~Tavina


	30. Iwa Chunin Exams Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"You can let go of me now." My arms drop as though they'd been burned. _What was I thinking when I did that? What was I thinking, he's going to be so mad at me..._ "I wasn't crying."

"Of course you weren't." I reply flippantly, and an instant later curse my stupid mouth. _I am an idiot. A Kami forsaken, stupid idiot._

Kakashi looks at me, looks at the bright sunlight outside his window, and then back at me. "You said something about a training plan earlier?" His eye smile is a hundred percent plastic, but he probably needs the distraction right now.

 _But that was a lie so I could get into your apartment...oh who am I kidding. If Hatake Kakashi wants to give me pointers, who am I to say no to him?_ "I'm working on the next Doton Jutsu in the scroll Tou-san left me." I pull out the scroll for emphasis. "I don't understand how I'm supposed to breath under the surface of the earth for the Earth Walking Jutsu though."

"Make me lunch again and I'll teach you." Kakashi eye smiles again, and this time he looks more like a troll than anything else. _I can't believe I felt sorry for you._

"So what's your favorite food then?" _But if bribing you will get you to teach me something, then very well, I'll bribe you._

"Broiled fish." He taps his chin with a finger. "Miso soup and eggplant." It doesn't sound too hard. I have two lifetimes of semi decent cooking experience surely I could make it work.

I stand up and brush off my shorts. "Well, I'll have to visit the grocery store again." I glare at him. "Knowing you, your refrigerator is all sad again."

"Well." Kakashi claps his hands together. "We will have to go together then."

I look up at him. _Are you kidding?_ "I can find the grocery store by myself, Kakashi-san."

"No, you can't." _Are you actually kidding?_ "Remember if you only eat convenience store onigiri you won't grow up big and strong, Hana-chan!" _I can't possibly punch him can I? I won't be able to connect a punch anyway. Stupid geniuses._

* * *

"What do you think of this one?" I turn to find Kakashi holding...a peach of all things.

I feel a vein pulse in my forehead. "Kakashi-san." I take a very deep breath. "That's not even an eggplant. That's a peach."

Kakashi eye smiles at me. "Oh, indeed it is." He looks at the peach as thought it is a foreign object. "I wonder how it got here. I was certain I picked up an eggplant."

"Kai!" I disrupt the flow of my chakra, because I really wouldn't put it past him to put a genjutsu on an eggplant. The peach stays a peach.

"You're so confused, Hana-chan." Kakashi's face is suddenly very very close to mine, and I lean away from him. _Personal space...must have more personal space..._ "And highly suspicious." He withdraws and puts the peach back. "I like it."

"How do you even-" I shake my head. "Oh never mind. I don't want to know how you've survived for this long without knowing the difference between peaches and eggplants, which you claim happens to be your favorite food...so."

* * *

I actually open Kakashi's kitchen cabinets when we get back. I expect to find very little...but again I'm surprised. "Kakashi-san...is that a colander?" And suddenly I have far too many suspicions. "Kakashi-san?"

He looks up from polishing his shuriken. "What about my colander?"

"Are you actually capable of cooking?" _If you have something as specific as a colander, and you clearly know what it means, then doesn't that mean that you do on occasion cook things?_

He blinks at me, but says nothing. I hurriedly pull the pot of miso soup off of the stove top.

Then I turn to glare at him properly. "You _do_ know how to cook."

He blinks at me again. "Of course I do."

 _What. What? WHAT?!_ "Why didn't you ever tell me?" I pull the half burnt fish off of the stove too, and stomp my way over to him. "Why do you even want me to make you food when you can do it yourself?"

He calmly sets the shuriken down on the table. "Well Hana-chan," He begins in a sickeningly sweet voice. "You never asked."

I feel as though my brain has short circuited. I wander over to his refrigerator and pull it open. _Yogurt...milk...dog food...fruit...oh look, eggplants...and fish...broccoli...he's a normal person after all._

I give in to the sudden urge to just sit on the floor at this point. I don't know why, but this is just hysterically funny. "But I'm such a terrible cook."

By the time I turn around, the half burnt fish is gone. "I have no idea what you mean." He swallows. "I will tell you that there are air pockets in the ground because the Earth Walking Jutsu makes a bubble bigger than you in the ground if you do it correctly."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "I am a terrible cook, but more importantly, I suppose if I don't do it correctly I'll end up dead?"

"Hmmm..." The miso soup is disappearing right before my eyes, but there's no change in the movement of his mask, so I assume it's a genjutsu. I'm just too tired to break it."I don't know what'll happen."

"Fine." I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "I'll go and try it out then."

* * *

I poke my head above the earth and gasp for air at my normal training ground. "Oh look, it's the girl." Pakkun is sitting right in front of me. At this moment, we're eye level.

"What are you doing here?" I neither scream nor try to back away, more than half of me is still stuck underground anyway. "Also, my name is Hana, not girl."

"Eh, Kakashi didn't want you to actually die." He offers me a paw. "You should feel them. I have very soft paws."

I wiggle a hand above ground so I could test out the legendary paws. "They are very soft." I laugh. _In all honesty...Pakkun is rather cute._

Pakkun withdraws his paw. "It looks like you've mostly gotten the hang of it."

I push myself the rest of the way out of the ground. It doesn't want to give me up, and I end up making a rather loud squelching sound when I finally break free of the earth. "It's just really slow." I sigh. "I can't see myself using this in an actual fight."

"It's good for hiding," Pakkun offers.

I nod. "Yeah." I scratch behind his ears absentmindedly. "I could use it for infiltration if I actually wanted to."

Pakkun hums blissfully. "You do know how to scratch behind ears."

My right eyebrow rises just a touch too high. "I am the sister of three dogs, Pakkun. I think I should know how to scratch behind ears by now."

Pakkun clambers to his feet. "Well, since you aren't going to kill yourself, my job is done."

I turn back to the task still at hand. Ram. Dog. Rat. Bird.

Feel the ground open up and swallow me. I slide down into the vast dark, and pull my chakra towards my ears instead. The world is surprisingly clear and focused without all the visual distraction. There's the sound of birds flying overhead. A slight wind is rattling through the bare branches. A colony of ants is walking towards a new home across the training field above my head. The world is alive and it is becoming spring again.

I'm running out of air again though, so I head back up.

* * *

I'm on the pathway home when I run into Cousin Gaku. I'd seen him since the Kyubi Incident, but-and I am indeed ashamed to say this-he hasn't been on my mind as much as his sister. "Cousin Hana." He calls.

I wave at him. "Cousin Gaku!" The white dog at his side must be Shiromaru. "And Shiromaru?"

The small white dog barks once. "I'm Byamaru."

"Oh. I'm so sorry." I pat him on the head once, and turn back to look at Cousin Gaku. "I don't think that I've met your dog before."

"Can I have a moment of your time, Hana-chan?" Cousin Gaku...is...different. He'd been brash and loud in my childhood memories, but now he's smiling politely- _blankly_ -in my direction. And I am deeply ashamed to know that I don't know if it is the Kyubi Incident that has changed him, or if it is something else.

"Yes, of course." I thread my arm through his, and we walk down the path, arm in arm.

"Can you tell me what it's like to be a genin?"

The question is so out of left field that I stop walking. "You were a genin yourself, Cousin Gaku."

He sighs. "I do not remember."

 _He has memory loss? Has he not been around because he no longer remembers who everyone is?_ "What else don't you remember?" _Did we just lose him in the shuffle?_ Inuzukas could be scatterbrained. _Had no one thought to ask about him?_

He frowns. "Many things that I should know." We start walking again. "I could not remember your name for the longest time. It is why I did not speak to you until now."

"Well," I begin. "To answer your question about being a genin..." I search my experiences to figure out what I am supposed to say. "We go on D and C-Rank missions, and we come in teams of three with a Jonin Sensei."

"You were in the hospital." He frowns and his fingers tap out a nervous pattern on my arm. "You weren't hurt though."

 _He sounds almost like Sai. He doesn't understand._ "One of my teammates and my sensei was hurt." _I cannot be angry at him. He doesn't understand._ "Seeing them hurt is painful for my heart."

"Ah." His tapping fingers have slowed down. "Hana-chan? Where is your Otou-san?" _How much has he forgotten? Did he lose everything? He can't have, otherwise he'd not be fit for active duty._

"Tou-san died when I was five, Cousin Gaku." I look up at him, and blink back the tears that threaten to fall, because he wouldn't understand them anyway. "You were there. You brought me to to hospital."

"I did?" He tilts his head to one side. "So I did." His eyes slide closed, and a single tear carves its way down his cheek. "Thank you for returning that memory to me, Hana-chan." He slides his arm away from mine, and we are no longer arm in arm. "I'm not going to enter the house. You should go on alone."

It doesn't entirely sit right with me, but I've been away from the Triplets and Kiba for almost an entire day by now. "Take care of yourself, Cousin Gaku. Don't push too much."

His lips twitch upwards, just slightly. "Ah. I will."

* * *

"Hah!" I punch Itachi in the stomach, and San pounces on him. But there's no time for victory, because it isn't one. I'm already turning, a kunai in hand.

The clash of metal on metal tells me that my hunch is correct. "How did you know?" Itachi asks, and I smirk.

I swipe forward with the other kunai, and Itachi blocks almost reflexively and leaps backwards to get more distance to pitch throwing weapons at me. "It was obviously genjutsu, Itachi. How easily would you ever be punched like that by me? Besides, you didn't smell like you were there anyway."

It's a training spar, so we trade comments back and forth even as we also trade blows. "You need to work on how quickly you dispel genjutsu." Itachi holds a kunai to my throat from behind. "There was another layer." I melt back into mud.

My hands break out above the ground, wrap around his ankles and I do my level best to drag him down with me. It's still fairly difficult though. "You were fighting with a clone." I only drag him down to knee depth, and I then slowly extract myself from the ground that still does not seem to want to give me up. "I don't think this jutsu is particularly effective. It only worked because you got distracted by Toku during the beginning of the spar."

Toku offers both of his hands to help pull me out of the ground. "Yeah, you have this down, but it's really slow."

We then offer a hand each to Itachi to also pop him free of the muddy ground. "Hmmm. Perhaps more chakra's needed to exit the ground?" Itachi looks over at Sensei who's sitting with his back against a tree. His eyes are closed though, and the casual observer would think that Sensei hadn't even been watching our sparing match. We know better than that though. Sensei sees everything. "Sensei, what do you think?"

"I don't think Hana has the extra chakra to spare for that sort of thing at this point, although theoretically a careful application to the lowest portion of the body should push the user up out of the earth more quickly."

 _A careful application of chakra. Hmmm. I'll have to try it sometime._

"Let's see..." Toku taps his chin. "I need to move faster. Itachi needs to watch out from below, and Hana needs to work on chakra control."

Sensei nods. "Yes." He climbs to his feet slowly. "Now, I need to go and see something down at Crypt. You three can keep sparing, or you can go get a D-Rank and earn some pocket money." He looks around the clearing at each of us. "Do make sure to stay together though."

"Yes, Sensei." We chorus, and brush each other off.

"Maybe we should go see if there's a D-Rank available?" I ask

Toku nods. "It would be nice to have more pocket change."

* * *

The Hokage watches us very seriously as we enter. "Is your Sensei present?" _It is very clear that he is not, Hokage-sama._

Toku shrugs, slings an arm over Itachi's shoulder, and wiggles his hand in the general direction of the left, where the Cryptology Department is based. "Sensei had to go see something in Crypt that's above our clearance level. We just wanted a D-Rank mission."

A slight hint of a smile graces the Sandaime's lips as he sets his pipe down. "Very well." He hands Itachi a mission scroll. "Team Six will be in charge of watching over the Uchiha Clan Head's second son, Uchiha Sasuke for the duration of the afternoon until his parents return home."

Itachi's eyes widen. "I get to go home and spend time with Sasuke? But that's-"

Toku slaps a hand over his mouth. "Say no more, Ita-kun, we'll take-"

"Or." The Hokage interrupts and hands me another mission scroll. "Team Six can be in charge of watching over the Inuzuka Clan Head's son, Inuzuka Kiba for the duration of the afternoon."

"Umm..." _Is this a subtle way of reminding us to spend time with our families when we're in the village?_ "Or we could take them both." I say at last.

The Hokage picks up his pipe. "Or you could take both."

"We should take both." Itachi's hand curls tightly around his mission scroll. "Your brother isn't more important than mine."

* * *

"You're the meanie from the sandpit!" _Whomever thought that my brother has a short memory deserves to be whacked upside the head._ I think as I restrain Kiba from tackling Sasuke. _They clearly have no idea how long he holds his grudges._

"Kiba-chan...I already told you that Sasuke-chan is not a meanie." I sweep him up onto my shoulders and he's no longer quite interested in tackling Sasuke, who has started hiding behind Itachi, so I count it as a win. Itachi wisely retreats with Sasuke and Toku towards the swings, as he senses a sibling conflict.

"But Neechan!" Kiba threads his hands through my hair and pulls slightly. He's gotten better at managing his strength, so it's mostly just a gentle tugging with a few yanks here and there, rather than the full on yanking that it used to be. "I made sure that he went home crying last time!" _What._

I pull Kiba off of my shoulders. "What did you do to Sasuke-chan last time?" _I never would have thought it. My brother the bully._ Oh, no one ever really scolded Kiba for much of anything at home, but he'd always been a sweet kid with a good heart, so there hadn't really ever been the need. Still, the news that he'd sent Sasuke home in tears the last time they met doesn't sit well in my chest.

What was it that he'd done to Sasuke during my chunin exams?

"I only told him that Neechan is much better than his rotten Niisan 'cause Neechan was at the exams." Kiba huffily kicks a clod of dirt with his shoes and crosses his arms over his chest. "It's his fault he started crying cause I made up a song 'bout how great you are and what a loser his Niisan is." My darling little brother refuses to meet my eyes.

I set my left hand on his shoulder, and tilt his head up with my right so that I can see his face clearly. "That's not an acceptable way to treat other people, Kiba-chan."

His lips turn down, and his eyes fill with crocodile tears. "But Neechan!"

"No buts." I smile ruefully and ruffle his hair. "You can't say that everyone else's opinions are wrong, you know. You've gotta let them have their opinions. Sasuke loves his brother very much, and you love me very much." He's still not going to let this go though, and I cast about for a good way to explain family relationships to him. "Do you like it when Sasuke-chan wants you to love his Niisan?"

"NO!" Kiba darts forwards and clings to my legs like a leech. "I don't ever want to love his stupid Niisan." He whispers. "I want to go to the kennels with Neechan."

And oh, he is heartwarming, but his love has gotten out of hand. _You can't be cruel to other people just because they don't love like you, Kiba-chan. We're a loud folk when it comes to love, and we love wholly and without remorse, but that's no reason to disparage everyone else._

"Then why would Sasuke-chan want to love me?" I gently pry Kiba off of my legs. "You don't want to love his Niisan."

Kiba frowns, but the cogs in his thought process is turning now. He takes me by the hand and marches towards the swing set.

"I s'pose you can like your Niisan 'nd m'sorry about the song." He frowns but hurries to block Sasuke's view of me. "But Neechan's still better!" Still, given that he's barely taller than my waist...he doesn't really block anyone's view of anything.

 _That's my sweet brother. Loud, and brash and demanding, but ultimately if I explain he'll come around._

The rest of the time at the park passes much more smoothly after that even if Sasuke and Kiba are still, so not friends.

* * *

We're about to go our separate ways when Sensei slouches into the park holding three sheets of paper. _It's the same as last time._

"I thought you were in Crypt looking at foreign intel above our clearance level, Sensei." Toku sets down the shovel he'd been using to help Sasuke with his sand castle, and pulls a sheet of paper from Sensei's hands. "This looks like the chunin exam form for...Iwa." _Except Iwa is really not an allied location._

 _Why would Sensei want us to go there?_

"Something else came up." Sensei flicks a paper each at me and Itachi. "We'll be one of two teams going if you three agree."

I tug on Sensei's sleeve."But why are we going to Iwa?" _It hasn't been so many years since the end of the Third War. Iwa's still bleeding from the hand the Yondaime dealt them. Why would we be going to the most dangerous exams besides Kumo in the rotation?_

"It's because we have to make sure I stay inside the village for a bit right?" Itachi sighs and absently pulls at the end of his low tail. "The masked attacker is clearly after me, and we can break up the team after the Chunin Exams as long as someone gets promoted."

"Not quite." Sensei sits down at the edge of the sand pit. "The real problem is that the Council is pushing for you to get promoted because you're a prodigy." Sensei casts a glance over at me. "To a lesser extent, they want Hana and Toku to pass as well, because we're still short man power after the Kyubi Incident, and on paper you three should already be low chunin level in skill."

"So they're going to throw us at the exams hosted by a country that hates us." Toku frowns. "I'm not sure I like the Hokage's Council any more than I like Hiashi-sama and the Elders." Toku frowns harder. "Especially with how Hiashi-sama sacrificed his own twin brother not two months ago."

"I wouldn't be giving you these things if I had a choice." Sensei runs a hand through his hair. "I broke way too many rules by making a genin team to begin with, and I've used up their leniency. They want me back in Crypt despite how much weight I've been pulling on top of leading your team."

Suddenly Sensei's sleeping habits, and eternal lassitude made sense. _He was hiding how tired he was by behaving even more like a stereotypical Nara. He probably worked late nights. He never came to team dinners that weren't at his house. He didn't have the time, but he wanted to hide his extra work from us._

 _Has he even been at full fighting capacity the entire time Team Six has been active? How much sleep has he been getting?_

"We'll go." The hand that isn't holding the paperwork balls into a fist. "We won't disappoint you, Sensei. Every one of us will be promoted this time." I see my determination echoed in Itachi and Toku.

"That's not really what I'm asking." Sensei chuckles, and it's like dry wind blowing down the husk of a canyon. "I'm just asking that you all stay alive."

"Oh we will, Sensei." I whisper. "Oh we will." We'd faced Tobi together. There isn't a thing that Iwa could throw at us worse than a teleporting S-ranked missing-nin with a Sharingan and the devil's dream.

* * *

That night after dinner I slip down to the clan cemetery in my bare feet. Kaa-san had allowed me to sign the papers with the same warnings as last time. _An Inuzuka understands when her children must grow up._

And it is strange to think how strictly matrilineal the Inuzuka are, every clan head is a mother, a sister, a daughter. It is why the clan had come to Kaa-san after Kosshi-baasan's death despite the fact that Kaa-san has two elder brothers, one older than even Kosshi-baasan.

But I'm not here to ask for a mother's forgiveness tonight. I set the white lilies down before Tou-san's marker and sit cross legged on the ground before him. "It's a beautiful night, Tou-san. There aren't any clouds."

I'm not here to talk about the clouds though. "I'm going to the Chunin Exams, Tou-san." At times like these, I feel his presence, in spirit if not in body. "They're in Iwa this year."

 _If Tou-san knew, what would he say? Would he even remember anything about Iwa? He'd fought against them in the war. How did it feel for him? He never said._

"Wish me luck, please." My fingers trail lightly across the top of his stone as I rise. "I'll come back to see you soon."

* * *

 **A.N.** This chapter sets up quite a bit of future plot points, and starts a new arc. We have Kakashi's big cooking reveal, Hana learning more jutsu, Cousin Gaku is weird, what Kiba did to Sasuke, village politics and the announcement about Chunin Exams Take Two, all in one chapter. Whew. It was a lot.

And guys, I'm blown away by your wonderful response to last chapter.

A huge thank you to CasJeanne, Rickrossed (You can check out Ashen, the Bloodless side stories, I have more POVs there, and it updates roughly biweekly), Missfroggy, WhiteFang001, Snidekick, Wulfyre(The thing is that Hana can't ask more without breaking Kakashi's frail attempts at sanity), The Yeah(I don't think Hana's going to get too many big attacks.) , and Sis for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed. Totally blown away guys.

Also, smallish side note. The 100th reviewer gets a request for a short-ish drabble or side story relating to Bloodless. Add it to your review, or PM me.

~Tavina.


	31. Iwa Chunin Exams Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"So, we need to plan." We're sitting in Mufu-an without Sensei, gathered around a small circular table diagonal from our normal haunt. I tap my fingers nervelessly on the wood. "We'll not survive in Iwa even if the Tsuchikage gave us his word of protection if we just go there stupidly."

"Yeah, I don't look forward to getting slaughtered." Toku leans back against the wall, and his sleepy expression tells me that he's gotten no sleep either. We remembered too much to sleep. "I'd pass on meeting death and Kami-sama again in the near future, thank you."

"Let's talk about the format of the last exams you guys were in." Itachi takes a sip of his green tea. "After all, if they want the Chunin Exams to be a fair way of judging chunin, there's no way that they'll be that different all the time."

"The first exam was a betting game in a casino." I say, memories of the first exam were never particularly happy ones. "But the trick was that they wanted us to steal from the patrons, not actually win money by cheating at the betting tables." _Now that I look back, it makes sense now._ "You could say that it was the information gathering test."

"The second test required us to run through the desert canyon system that Suna's famous for while fighting other teams." Toku sighs. "I suppose you would call it a combat test, but I was out for half of it. I don't know how Mu-kun and Hana finished the maze."

"And our last test was a brawl." I sigh. "Largely there to impress the watchers, it's not a place for subtlety."

And there it is, three simple tests, but just remembering the experience makes gooseflesh rise on my arms. _We felt so much pain and fear during the event. It didn't take longer than three weeks though._

"What can we do to make this easier on ourselves?" Itachi looks at our drawn faces. "And was it really that bad?"

"We all nearly died more times than I can count on a single hand." My tea's gone cold, and I can't stop my grimace when I drink it. _Cold tea is the worst._ "I'm not sure what you mean by that bad, Ita-kun."

"Let's meet at my house for dinner." Itachi glances at the clock on the wall. "I promised that I'd spend time with Sasuke today. He wants to learn how to throw shuriken."

"I can't." Toku stretches. "Koma-niisan gets back today. I want to talk to him about the exams. He'll have some good tips for staying alive."

"I'll go." Itachi's face had fallen so miserably. I couldn't resist. "Can I bring Kiba-chan with me?"

Itachi nods. "Sasuke should make some friends his own age." He sighs. "Shisui's also been asking when you're going to show up again, he wants to spar with you."

I feel my face erupt in flames. _Shisui of the Shushin remembers who I am? Oh Kami, I must have been so rude as to be memorable the last time._

* * *

Kiba, who by the spirit of his adorableness, is my beloved saving grace when showing up in the Uchiha District later that evening. I had to mollify him with lemon hard candies during the walk there though, as he's firmly convinced that visiting 'stupid Sasuke' is a bad idea.

Perhaps visiting the Uchiha District, especially the parents of 'stupid Sasuke' with Kiba is a bad idea.

"Hello, Fugaku-san. Mikoto-san." I bow, and expertly push Kiba into doing the same.

"Neechan!" He wriggles and resists. "Kaa-san says we shouldn't have to bow to _anyone._ " He turns to me, his eyes huge. "Why're you doing it left and right?"

"Kiba-chan..." I sigh. _Yes, bringing my little brother who lacks polite finesse to the stone faced Uchiha land was a bad idea._ "A bow is a symbol of respect, and while we don't have to respect anyone at home because we're all of us equal at home," _And children of the current clan head which makes other clan members show respect to us instead of the other way around._ "We are not at home right now Kiba-chan." I kneel down so that I can look him in the eye without tilting his head up. "We're in the Uchiha District. While we're here we should follow their rules."

Kiba frowns. "That's weird. We aren't them."

"We would like them to respect our rules when they visit our home." I smile at him and ruffle his hair. "You wouldn't like it if everyone bowed to you, right? They like it the other way around." Respect...in the Inuzuka clan is a strange thing. It isn't measured by physical shows of power and dominance, but instead by how much other people are willing to give weight to ones opinions.

If I had something to say at a clan meeting, I could go ahead and say it, and everyone would listen to me speak, and form an honest opinion about it, and then tell me such and such thing.

Perhaps that's the most honest form of respect there is in this world. Not bows when I approach, nor an attachment of the san suffix to my name and never a bad word spoken about me, but the true effort taken to listen and tell me what they mean.

"I still think it's weird." Kiba stops frowning and adopts a neutral expression. "But if that's the way they like it here." He copies my bow, sloppy and unpracticed. "Hello Fugaku-san. Mikoto-san." He parrots the phrase expertly, but grimaces at the end. Then he straightens up and beams up at them. "We can be friends now!" He bounces forwards and attaches himself to Fugaku-san.

I'm just a beat too slow to stop him. _Oh no. Oh no. Kiba-chan._ Now, I didn't think Fugaku-san would honestly hurt him. He wouldn't. But Kiba isn't...for lack of a better word, used to anyone who denied him anything. And Fugaku-san is about as measured and deliberate as a mountain.

"What's it like to be a Tou-san?" Kiba scoots over and starts idly playing with the Uchiha Patriarch's hands, tracing lines and patterns across the palms and flipping them over to continue on the back.

Fugaku-san is frozen. His eyes seek Mikoto-san's. She covers her mouth with a wide sleeve, mischief dancing in her dark eyes and walks away, leaving him to his fate.

"Why do you ask, Inuzuka-kun?" Fugaku-san seems to have unstuck his throat long enough to speak in full sentences.

Kiba frowns. "I'm Kiba, not Inuzuka-kun." But his next words are measured, more careful, thoughtful than most of my darling little brother's thoughts. "Don't have a Tou-san. Wondered what it was like."

 _He doesn't know._ And his quiet sadness will shatter my heart to pieces one day. _And all the stories in the world can't explain Tou-san well enough to him._

"I'm sure." And Fugaku-san seems to be struggling mightily with these words when confronted with my four year old little brother. "That your Tou-san." A pause stretches into the air. "Is very proud of you and your sister, Kiba-kun. As I am proud of my sons." The last words are added so softly they wouldn't even be heard from the door not four feet away from us without chakra supplemented hearing.

"You think so?" Kiba considers it. "You're actually very nice, Fugaku-san." His lips tilt upwards in a beaming smile, having reached an epiphany. "That's what Neechan meant by different people are similar too!" He races off towards the living room. "Hey, hey, stupid Sasuke! Are you a nice person too?"

I wince. _That could have ended better._

"I'm sorry, Fugaku-san." I look down at my feet instead of his face because looking at his face wouldn't give me any indication of his feelings. "Kiba-chan is very...Inuzuka, and he and Sasuke-chan have been having a bit of a disagreement lately." _For their entire acquaintance really._

"I see why you love him." Fugaku-san turns and walks towards the kitchen. "He is a very bright boy."

"Kiba is more than bright." I counter. "Kiba is the sun and the clouds and the sky in all its weathers." I laugh at Fugaku-san's surprised expression. "You haven't seen him angry yet. He can throw quite the tantrum when he does not get his way."

Dinner ends better than I'd hoped, even though I've yet to persuade Kiba that perhaps Sasuke isn't stupid.

Kiba counters with the idea that Sasuke, in his natural state, is both stupid (for not loving Neechan best) and kind ('cause he gets less angry now when I call him stupid). "You know he has to be both at the same time. Can't be just one of them."

"Oh alright, Kiba-chan." I mess up his hair and he shrieks with laughter. "You win this time. We'll talk about calling other people stupid later."

* * *

The journey to Iwa takes us through Kusa.

Unfortunately, it reminds us all of that miserable mission we'd taken where we ran into the masked teleporting ninja with a sharingan.

Doubly unfortunate, Nara Kusaga is on the other team travelling with us, and Toku, normally calm and good natured, has been glaring daggers in their direction all week. It makes the civilian born girl on the team uncomfortable, she seems to believe that Toku is some sort of hellish demon, and seems to give Asata-san a form of low-key anxiety.

I feel no sympathy for Asata-san. He could stew in his own juices forever if he'd like.

"What did Nara-kun ever do to you?" It seems that Itachi's finally given into the urge to ask about the elephant in the room. He's just asking Toku, because Toku's the one that's been acting mortally offended by their very existence.

"He did nothing to me." Toku snarls and slams a tent spike into the ground a little too hard. Cracks appear in the dry, packed earth. _There'd been no need to Jyuken the poor tent, Toku._ "He hurt _Hana._ " Toku attempts to Jyuken another tent spike, and Sensei's shadow freezes him in his tracks.

"No need to be unprofessional and take your anger out on our cover, Toku-kun." Sensei releases him. "Carry on."

Itachi looks to me. "Hana?"

From beside me, Ni and San growl. "We should rip him."

I turn a disbelieving eye towards them. "We should stay away from him, and not rip him." I pat each of them on the head, and carry on to talk to Itachi instead. "Nara Kasuga had the dubious honor of using my unconscious body as a human meat shield against Mu-kun during the third exam in Suna."

Itachi's eyes bleed red. "What."

I shrug and turn back to helping Toku set up the tent. "It's not that big of a deal anymore, Ita-kun." I carefully push a little bit of earth natured chakra into the tent spike, and it melts into the earth easily. I then carefully brush chakra over the patch of earth that Toku had cracked. It heals. "Of course, I'm angry at him and all, because that's not how you'd treat an ally, but still, he's not worth the energy."

"He hurt you though." Itachi doesn't sound like he understands.

"You got that right, Ita-kun." Toku mutters under his breath. "He ought to be burned at the stake. Or ripped apart. Or poisoned by snakes. Or jyukened through the throat."

"He's not worth the energy it would take to kill him." I hear a sharp intake of breath, and turn to find Nara Kasuga retreating quickly into the distance. _He heard that? Oh, too bad for him._

* * *

"Welcome to Iwagakure no Sato." The Sandaime Tsuchikage is...much shorter than he'd appeared in the anime. Or perhaps because it was an anime, it was hard to tell how short he is in comparison to everyone else. "You may visit the civilian district, and we've opened several training fields for you to use if you'd like them." _You will not spy on my village or I will send my ANBU to exterminate you._ He does not say, but it is heavily implied.

"Thank you, Tsuchikage-san." En-sensei's face also appears to be carved out of stone. _It must be the atmosphere of the village. It's made even lazy Sensei turn to stone._ "We're grateful for your hospitality."

"You there." It takes me a moment to realize that the Tsuchikage means me.

"Yes?" _Is there something on my face?_

"Have I seen you before?" The Tsuchikage moves forwards and scrutinizes me closely. "What's your name?"

"Inuzuka Hana." I don't hesitate the words roll out smoothly as though it'd always been this way. "And I don't think you've met me before. I've never been here in my life." _Can it possibly be that he recognizes whatever little features I have from Tou-san?_

"Oh very well." The Tsuchikage returns to his seat. "Kitsuchi, take them to their rooms."

At that very moment though, a blond boy of about seven years old races into the room. "Hey, Old Man! I did it, un!" He has a clay sculpture in his hands, shaped rather crudely like a spider.

"Deidara no Iwa." The large burly man, Kitsuchi, stops the boy from going any further. "You know that Tsuchikage-sama has no time for you right now."

 _no Iwa...I thought that was the name Tou-san had before marriage because he didn't have a father? Is it actually a last name in Iwa?_

 _Are they actually related?_

Deidara turns around, his face downcast and gloomy. "You don't have to be so mean about it, un." He has blond hair that veers more towards sun yellow than Tou-san's paler platinum, but his eyes are the exact same shade of pale blue. And his nose is identical. Which means that I'm actually seeing my own straight nose on Deidara's face.

It is perhaps the strangest experience I'd ever had to be in.

 _Deidara looks more like Tou-san than I do._ I banish the thought. _Tou-san is Tou-san. He's mine, not Deidara's._

"That's it." The Tsuchikage snaps his fingers. "Deidara, go stand next to that girl over there." He points in my general direction. _Oh no. This is very bad. Very very very Bad._

Deidara, though confused, does what he is told. "Why'd I have to go and stand next to a leafy ninja, un?"

Ichi growls at him. "And rocky ninjas are better than leafy ones?"

Ni turns up his nose. "This one smells funny. We should stand far away."

San just huffs. "He doesn't understand a single one of us anyway."

I run my hands through the fur on their backs. "Guys. Stop that."

"You two have identical looking noses." The Tsuchikage gets up out of his seat and comes to a stop not two feet away from me. "Why is that?"

"A lot of people have noses that looks similar, Tsuchikage-san." The lie comes too easily. I knew that Tou-san had been from Iwa. Faced with the boy that looked so much like him, I could only assume that this is in fact, a close relative of mine. But I, like Tou-san, know my loyalties, and they do not belong to Iwa.

Blood relation Deidara might be, but he is not my _family._ And that makes all the difference.

"Not everyone has noses that look exactly identical." The Tsuchikage crosses his arms over his chest and studies my face intently.

I gesture to my cheeks. _These proud red fangs tell you exactly where I'm from._ "I am an Inuzuka, Tsuchikage-san. A shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato and proud. Not one of us has ever belonged to Iwa." _And Tou-san no matter where he was born, is an Inuzuka through and through. He doesn't belong to Iwa either._

"Can I go now, Old Man." Deidara whines. "That one dog looks like it's about to eat me, un."

Deidara edges away from Ichi, who snaps at his clothing. "He smells strange, Hana. Why does he smell like Tou-san?"

"He." I correct absently. "Ichi is a he, and if you keep calling him it, he might just eat you." I raise an eyebrow at Ichi. "I'll talk to you three about it later. Keep quiet for now."

"You all are dismissed." The Tsuchikage is most certainly not convinced of where I happen to have sprung from, but Iwa would probably not have missed a little boy with a civilian mother. He would not know how to place me, if I didn't tell him, and I had no intention to, ever in a million years, tell him anything about my father. "Kitsuchi, take them to their rooms."

* * *

All eight of us march down the hallway together, behind Kitsuchi. We're shown unceremoniously to two suites. "Here we are."

I look at the pale civilian-born girl who's now a part of Asata-san's team, and Asata-san himself, while taking great care to avoid Nara Kasuga. _Nope. I'm not spending any time with her._

I sling my arms over Itachi and Toku's shoulders. "Come on, we should figure out how to split the bed and the shower privileges." _I'd much rather room with the boys._

"Come now, my ducklings." Sensei gestures for us to follow him. "We've got lots and lots of work to do and no time at all to do it with." It looks like Sensei agrees with me. There's no reason to touch the other team we're here with. We aren't here to be friends with them after all. We're here to win.

He'd been on good terms with Asata-san until the Nara Kasuga affair, but the debacle seems to have used up his good will. They are now no longer on speaking terms. I have to learn to appreciate Sensei a little more. _He cuts entire friendships for the sake of his student's well being._

* * *

Later that night I sit out on the balcony alone, looking out over the village. Iwa is a grey mass of onion domes in the darkening gloom. _Did Tou-san ever miss this place? Did he have friends here?_

"Can I talk to you, Inuzuka-san?" I raise an eyebrow. _Oh lovely, it's Nara Kasuga._ "I don't know. _Can you?"_ It is horribly petty of me to quibble with him over grammatical errors of all things, but just because I didn't want Toku or Itachi to rip him a new one, didn't mean that I didn't heavily dislike him.

"I wanted to say that I'm sorry." He shifts his weight between his feet and stares at his hands. "I abused the trust that existed between ninja that come from the same village." _Asata-san probably put him up to it._

I rise, and from the darkness around me, the Triplets rise as well. "I don't ever want to talk to you again, Nara- _san._ " I stalk past him, the Triplets growling with every step. "You should do well to remember that I am never alone."

Ni and San pad silently towards him, only their eyes are visible, glowing in the dark.

"Run very fast." Ni snarls. "Run because this time, I'm more than enough to protect Hana-chan."

Nara Kasuga has the good sense to retreat to a distance that he deems that my dogs are unable to cover in a single leap.

He doesn't realize that the distance he's thinking of is actually behind the door. "I wanted to apologize, but if you don't want to accept it then just say so."

"Do you know what I hate?" I smile at him, white teeth glistening in the shadows. "I'm an honest person, Nara. I hate those slimy bastards that have no sense of morality. So you can get lost now."

 _If you don't, I'm not responsible for your mauling by the Triplets._

He turns and flees.

* * *

 **A.N.** Hana is by no means perfect. There are times when she misunderstands, when she holds a grudge for too long. She's been an Inuzuka for such a long time now that the clan's habits are bleeding into her as well. A rash bluntness, a tendency to stop planning, and keep doing, the wild loyalty, the self conviction, they're all good things in a sense.

But she's gotten used to fair play, because that's how her extended family works. It's not such a good thing to believe in the soundness of when you're a ninja.

Thank you so much for Sophie Newman, Rickrossed (I have Hana's meeting with Naruto all planned out, and it happens within the next three years.) Alizay, and WhiteFang001 for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed.

We passed a hundred reviews yesterday! I can't tell you guys how thankful I am.

With gratitude,

~Tavina.


	32. Iwa Chunin Exams Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I sit down again on the balcony after Kasuga leaves. There's no way for me to avoid my thoughts permanently.

 _If Tou-san is in fact Deidara's blood relative, and Deidara's most famous technique is his kekkei genkai the explosion release..._ And suddenly I remember that spring day when I'd pulled Tou-san's papers from my bag back in team training.

The Explosion Release notes. He had written them for me.

And if he'd written them for me, then he must believe that of his children, at least one of them had inherited the kekkei genkai, which implied that he had it himself.

I study my hands in the pale moonlight. _Did I also inherit Iwa's most famous bloodline? Am I one of those people?_

But the thing is I didn't have mouths on my hands, and neither did Tou-san. Perhaps Deidara is a special case?

"Hana-chan?" Itachi pokes his head around the door. "Shouldn't we rest so the test will go well tomorrow?"

I smile at him. "Of course, Ita-kun."

* * *

Sensei's there to greet us when we come in. "Be careful of treachery." He can't say specifically be careful of Iwa's administration attempting to sabotage us, but he could tell us to be watchful of betrayal.

"Yes, Sensei." I smile up at him. "I mean, at least this time we aren't going to eat scorpion."

Sensei shudders. "You brats shouldn't remind me of those creepy crawly things."

Toku muffles a laugh behind his hand. "Just for that, I really should find another stand that sells those things."

"You won't find any of those here. They're a Suna specialty." Sensei waves a hand airily. "At any rate, I'm taking a bed, and going to sleep. You three sort out your sleeping arrangements."

The boys and I look at each other, and then at the single remaining bed, and then back at each other. "You can take it." We say in unison.

In the end we just sleep in sleeping bags despite there being a perfectly functioning bed right next to us. There are too many awkward thoughts to consider, and we wouldn't all fit on the bed anyway.

* * *

"Each three man team is to send one member into each of the three rooms." Kitsuchi is actually the proctor for the first exam. Or well, he's one of the proctors. "Once there your task will be explained to you."

We look at each other. "Take Ni and San with you guys when you go." I pat Ni and San on the head, once each. "You two better be good at being protectors.

"We're the best protectors." They bark back, and Ni wriggles his way closer to Toku. "My human."

Toku raises an eyebrow and gives me a helpless look. "What's going on?"

"You've just been claimed by a dog." I shrug artlessly. "It happens."

Itachi and San share a look, and then they straighten their shoulders. "Well, there's only one thing to do. Let's make sure we pass." He whispers as he steps forwards towards the third room.

"Yeah." I say, and step forward to join the queue for the first room. Ichi trails me silently.

"Don't worry so much. This one should be information." Toku heads towards the second room, the straps of his pack clutched tightly in his hand. I take one look at the two of them and then at the two thirds of the Triplets who had elected to go with them.

 _Kami-sama. No killing in this exam please._

* * *

"You are to complete this exam in an hour. The last question will be handed to you at the end of an hour." The woman who's the proctor in this room looks around at us with a wide, almost too wide, smile. "If you do cheat you will be handed over to Torture and Interrogation and we have a lot of fun there." She sings. "Begin."

I flip the page over. _There's almost too much deja vu._ "If Enemy A and Enemy B are positioned at the locations marked on the paper, and you are hiding beneath the earth at point C which are: A) the most violent way to terminate both enemies. B) the fastest way to terminate A and capture B." _Get a grip. I'm not in Konoha taking Naruto's exams._

I pick up the pencil and begin. "If given the chance to earth walk towards point A..."

A shinobi is escorted, screaming, from the room. The civilian born girl on Asata-san's team blanches. _They don't play around in Iwa, you should have none that before you arrived._

I turn back to the test. "If you are posing as a civilian in City X (mission parameters given)..."

"Put your pencils down everyone." I look up at the proctor. "Now I will tell you your final mission directive."

 _Are we going to be told that we'll fail if we don't answer correctly? I'm being strongly reminded of Morino Ibiki right now._

Besides me, Ichi whines. "The weird woman smells too happy to do this."

I run a hand through his fur and scratch his back. "We'll make it through whatever they throw at us."

"Now." The woman smiles widely, showing far too many teeth. "Remember those teammates of yours? Well, only one of you is supposed to pass on to the next part of the exams." _That...is not the same question what Naruto got._

 _What do they mean, only one of us passes?_

The door of the room opens, and a deluge of shinobi march in. "Decide which one of you is going to make it, alright?" The room erupts into petty squabbles and fight between teammates.

I spot Toku and Itachi walking into the room without Ni and San. That is when the first doubt takes root in my mind. _They would not leave Ni and San behind._

Ichi growls. "I smell a trap."

I pat him on the head, but turn back to my two teammates. "Toku! Ita! Over here!" I wave at them, and they head towards me and Ichi.

"Sorry, Hana." Toku activates his Byakugan, and that's the second doubt. "You know how much I want to be promoted."

Itachi palms a kunai and I don't have any more doubts, just a horrified certainty. I throw myself forwards, my own kunai in hand. "You are not Itachi." Ichi leaps at Toku from behind.

His eyes widen in shock as I brutally slash him across the throat. "Hana-" Blood sprays across my face and for a moment I doubt my own conclusions...And then he dissolves into a pile of mud. _Mud clones, that's how they got them to look so realistic._

Ichi's sitting on another pile of mud with a disgusted look on his face and his tongue lolling out. "That tasted disgusting."

"You weren't injured I hope." I check him over.

"No. But that was still a nasty trick." He whines and sniffs the air. "Actual blood is being shed here."

There are actually fallen bodies in the room now, not just piles of mud. I do not pause to consider whether or not they are dead.

Instead, I stride down to the front of the room to face the proctor, Ichi following silently behind. "It looks like I'm the only one of my team remaining." I say and glare at her, with my arms crossed over my chest. "Doesn't that make me the one to enter the next exam?"

The proctor whistles. "Well aren't you the violent one." She inspects me carefully, noting the symbol of Konoha etched on the hitai-ate about my neck. "I didn't expect a leafy sprout to be so violent as to be the third one done."

I frown at her even as Ichi's lips draw back in a growl. "I knew they weren't my teammates the moment they walked into the room." My eyes narrow as I regard her smirking face. "What did you do to them?"

She waves a hand artlessly at the carnage occurring all around us. "Oh, the same thing's happening in the other rooms." She grins. "The faster you attack the weaker the clones are supposed to be acting. That's their purpose." _So you reward the ones who will attack their teammates on sight, but you also reward the ones who know who their teammates are._ "You can leave the room now. Go stand in the hallway."

 _Surely both Itachi and Toku know who I am._ But I am less sure if they know each other. I close the door behind me, the sounds of fighting still echoing out from behind the stone door.

There are two others in the hallway already, glaring daggers at each other. A blonde haired girl from Kumo...and a shinobi from Suna. As soon as I step out with Ichi tumbling after me, the boy from Suna sneers. "Well look what the cat dragged in."

"At least she looks like a serious kunoichi, sand brain." The blonde girl pushes a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Even if you are a leaf."

I frown. _I know her from somewhere._ But whatever memory from the depths of my mind refuses to surface. "There's nothing wrong with being leaf."

"Hah." The Suna boy leans back against the wall. "All the shinobi from Konoha are weak."

"Well," I smile at him, a toothy smile. "Have you ever ripped someone's throat out with your teeth before?"

He burst out into laughter. "You? You don't even look like you could kunai person."

I keep my smile on my face as I take up a position against the opposite wall. "You don't know that." _My last exams was a year ago in Suna._ I run a hand through my loose, waist length hair. _I probably look different right now._

The girl from Kumo laughs. "What's your name, little leaf?"

"Inuzuka Hana." I do not offer a hand for her to shake. There are too many not optimal outcomes of letting an enemy shinobi touch my bare skin.

She inclines her head towards me. "The name's Yugito Nii."

 _That's how I know her. The scene of her death._ I nod, but offer nothing more. Ten more people make it out of the room.

* * *

"Hana!" I turn my head to spot Itachi, the actual Itachi that I had left this morning, hurrying towards me, San at his heels. _I cut your throat this morning, Ita-kun._

"What's the matter?" I ask when he stops and stares at me very hard.

"I killed you." He whispers. "I know it wasn't actually you, but it's strange to see you right now." San comes over to bump my legs, as if reassuring himself that I am indeed real. I reassure him by running him hand down his back. _Don't worry, San. I haven't gone anywhere._

"Same here." I peel myself off of the wall. "Don't worry about it, Ita-kun I'm not offended." _It's easy to say. Easy to say and easy to pretend that it's true. But I killed you this morning too._

He shudders. "I don't think this is the most welcoming place." He slips his hand in mine. "We should go wait outside Toku-kun's room for him."

I nod. "Yes, that would be best." In answering the last question, it would be kind hearted Toku who had the most trouble. _Even if he knows that we aren't in the room with him, would he be willing to slash our throats?_

* * *

Toku stumbles out of the door a few minutes after we pause to lean outside his door. "Toku!" I surge forwards to catch him. Ni rejoins his brothers, subdued and silent.

His hands find my face. "Hana." He looks over my shoulder. "Itachi." A line of tension bleeds out of his shoulders. "I-"

I put a finger over his lips. "We know. We had the same test in our rooms." I'm pulled into a hug that chokes the air from my lungs.

"Never again." Toku whispers in my hair. "I will never do something like that ever again."

"You should do it if the things that look like us are about to kill you." Itachi comes to stand beside us. "It's the only way you'd live."

Toku chuckles, watery and indistinct. "Oh, I knew it wasn't you guys." He sighs, his eyes closed. "But I couldn't do it, and then it just kept getting harder to kill them."

 _It gets harder the longer you wait._ I feel a hard spark of anger roar to life in my chest. _Be careful Iwa. Be very careful. An Inuzuka does not forget a wrong, and you have wronged four of my brothers today._

* * *

"Alright!" Kitsuchi slaps his hands together. "Those who still have all three members of their teams, come and stand in the front."

We plod forwards with our heads down. There's no reason to draw undue attention towards us. There are two dojustu inheritors on this team. The number of theftable eyes might only be two, but that is two too many to be comfortable with in hostile territory.

"Now, these twelve teams are the ones that pass." His voice booms over us. "Report tomorrow to this area and we will discuss your second exam."

The vast majority of passing teams wear the Iwa headband, but there's no time to consider it.

Sensei's already making his way towards us.

"There's been a problem, ducklings." He glances over at Kitsuchi. "Don't mind if I take them right now, yeah?"

Kitsuchi doesn't look pleased, but he lets us go with Sensei. "Fine, be over protective of your students, Nara. It's a wonder they survive in the real world."

"Hey." Toku's fists are clenched as he glares at the man. "Don't you dare say anything about sensei."

"So," Sensei begins as we walk out into the street. "The girl on Asata's team didn't make it out in one piece, so they're short a member. They're going home."

 _No..._ I hadn't cared to pay attention to her, but she'd been in my room. Why didn't I watch out for her just a little? I hadn't even noticed that she hadn't made it out of the door.

When had I gotten to this point? Where had the person who cared about lives gone?

 _My moral compass left me when I decided that some lives were more important than others._ Unbidden, Kiba's smiling face appears in my mind, and then Kaa-san, my cousins, Sensei, Kiho-baachan, Toku, Muta, Itachi, and even Kakashi and Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san and Sasuke. _They will always be more important to me than other lives._

 _I guess that's how it works._ I ruthlessly shove down my horror. "Sensei, where does that leave us?" _Better to live and to drag my people living with me._

Sensei grimaces. "The Council has standing orders that as long as we pass the tests, we are to continue."

 _I can really learn to hate the Hokage's Council._

Itachi comes to walk on Sensei's other side. "Don't worry Sensei. We'll pass you'll see. None of us will die."

"I heard about what happened during this test in the Jonin lounge from the Tsuchikage himself." Sensei inspects our faces carefully. "No hard feelings between you lot?"

"None." Toku replies. "We did what we had to. We don't regret it." His voice doesn't shake when he replies. And when he slings an arm over Itachi's shoulders, and an arm over mine, we know that it's going to be some form of okay.

* * *

Deidara shows up as I'm walking through the street market in the downtown area later that afternoon. I've taken off my hitai-ate, preferring to keep it in my bag instead. It would probably incite a riot if I walked around with the symbol of Konoha around in Iwa's civilian district, but I did want to pick up souvenirs for everyone at home. _I've gone from killing mud clones that look like my teammates in the morning, to questioning whether or not Kaa-san would like crow feather extensions for her hair in the afternoon._

 _I'm insane._

"Oi! Leafy Ninja, un!" I pause my perusal of hair extensions.

"My apologies, Vendor-san." I smile politely at the old man manning the stand. "I seem to have been summoned by a rocky ninja." Finally, finally I turn to face Deidara.

 _He's not all that old at all. Younger than me even._ "Did you want something?" I tilt my head to the side. "Rocky Ninja, un?"

A vein twitches in his temple. "Don't copy me, un!" We're standing in the street, and his finger is being jabbed in my general direction. "I wanna talk to you, un!"

I walk over to him, casually set a hand on his shoulder, and guide us off towards the tea house I'd seen earlier. "We can talk somewhere far far away from everyone else got it?"

He peers up at my face. "That is my nose, un." _That's what I'm afraid of..._

"No." I respond and poke him in the nose. "That's my nose, un. You stole it from me."

We enter the teahouse, and I slide a fifty ryo note over the counter towards the matron. "A quiet table for me and my friend here."

She looks at the two of us. "Oh, you two must give your parents such a hard time." She laughs and waves us to a table. "Deidara-kun, you never told me you had a sister."

"I'm not his sister." _Oh hell no. I'm not related to him at all._

"She's not my sister, un!" Deidara snaps.

The matron looks at us again, peering at our faces. _Is she...partially blind?_ "Oh my, I'm sorry you two. It's just that something about you two looked similar."

I smile at her. "It's no problem. Just a table for two please."

* * *

"Why'd we have to talk in here?" Deidara sulkily sips his tea. I'd checked his hands as he'd reached for the mochi, he didn't have mouths. _What does that even mean? They'd been such a big part of his character. Does he get them later?  
_

It looked more and more like the explosion release didn't have anything to do with the mouths on his hands.

"Well, if you kept screaming leafy ninja in the street we'd start a riot, un." I tilt my head to the side and examine him. If I ignore the fact that he's going to grow up into a terrorist bomber, he doesn't seem like a bad kid. A little loud, a little bratty, a little arrogant, but not a bad kid.

He reminded me of Kiba, only Kiba is my little brother and I couldn't say the same of Deidara no Iwa.

"Why do you look like me?" He asks, and something about him is horrifically hopeful. "I've never met someone from somewhere else that looked like me, un."

 _I can't tell you why I look like you._ I shrug. "I don't know."

His face falls. "I thought we might be related, un." It's strange enough to think about. _Why would he care so much whether or not we're related. Theoretically, he's related to every member of the Explosion Corps._

"Don't you have more relatives?" I ask, and his face falls further.

"No." He twiddles his thumbs but doesn't drink his tea. "Kaa and Tou died early." There is something truly heartbreaking about hearing the seven year old confess this.

I pour him a fresh cup of magnolia tea and slide it across the table towards him. "I don't know if we're blood related, Deidara-kun."

He looks at me with hopeful eyes. "But we might be then, if you don't know."

I frown. _This can't get back to the Tsuchikage, or he'll never let me leave Iwa._ "I don't think we are."

Deidara closes his eyes and his face falls. "Okay."

"You can call me cousin in private if you'd like." I offer. _Curse my foolish bleeding heart. There's no reason for me to offer him that._

"Cousin Hana?" He asks, and breaks into a smile so big it cut his entire face in two. "You'd let me call you Cousin, un?" He takes the tea I'm offering him eagerly now and gulps it down as if he hadn't anything to drink in days.

"Yeah." I sigh. _Since I've already offered, I can't very well take it away._

He overturns the table in the space of a breath and he's laughing breathlessly in my ear with his arms clasped tightly around my neck. "Thank you, Leafy-I mean, Cousin Hana, un. You won't regret it ever, un."

It is a kindness that I do not know if I will ever have cause to regret, but I've made a child happy, if only for a day.

* * *

 **A.N.** This chapter begins and ends with thoughts regarding our favorite terrorist bomber from Iwa. I think the child Deidara would probably remind Hana a lot of her own little brother.

Thanks to bubblesrule18, ManawaSasa, WhiteFang001, Alizay (Kasuga used Hana's unconscious body to block Muta's attacks to force a ninjutsu match during the Suna Chunin Exams arc), and BloodOragne-SeaShell for reviewing!

And to everyone else who favorited and followed.

~Tavina.


	33. Iwa Chunin Exams Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. But oh, I wish I did.**

* * *

"Deidara-kun?" I peel him off of me carefully. "I have to keep shopping now, okay?" I'd already spent half an hour with him in a tea house already. Soon, I'd have to return to Sensei and the boys for dinner.

"You're going shopping?" He looks at me with big eyes. "What for, un?"

"I want to find presents for my family." I set the tea cups he'd overturned back onto the table.

Suddenly it's as if he's had an epiphany. He takes me by the hand and pulls me out towards the door. "I can take you, un!"

"Slow down, Deidara-kun." But his energy is contagious, and I laugh in spite of myself. "I'm not in that much of a hurry, un!"

* * *

"Look at this one, Cousin Hana!" He pulls out an extension that had been lost beneath the crow feathered ones. "It has so many pretty colors in it, un." The burnt orange sunset of colors seem much more like something Kaa-san would like.

"Oh, that's a good pick, Deidara-kun." I ruffle his hair reflexively and he sets a hand over his hair. "Oh, does that bother you? It does always bother my Otouto." _It bothers Kiba-chan 'cause he wants us to match._

"No..." Deidara pauses there in the middle the street, his hand still over his hair. "No one's ever done that before." _Does the Tsuchikage realize how much his student's hurting? Does anyone care? He's just a little boy._

"Well, I'll ruffle your hair for you." I do it again, and he seems much more animated than before.

"You have an otouto, un?" He bounces towards the next stand. "What's he like?"

"Kiba-chan is my sun and sky." I smile and follow to him. "He likes lemon candies, like me, and he has the same fangs on his cheeks as I do."

"He sounds nice, un." Deidara pauses in front of a fruit stand and looks at me. "Do you think he'd like me too?"

"Why wouldn't he like you?" I tap him on the nose. "I like you. That's all Kiba-chan needs."

Deidara's face falls. "No one likes me really, un." But he forcibly cheers himself up a moment later. "Someday I'll be great at the explosion release, un! And then they'll all love me, un! And, and they'll all be nice to me, and I'll have lots of nice things, un!" He waves his hands around and I can almost see the future that he's projecting, but I know better. _Is this why he leaves Iwa? Because the explosion release cannot buy him the love he wants in his life?_

It just made his eventual coerced initiation into the Akatsuki worse. _How much did he hate being hated by so many people?_ But then, the later Deidara shares very few similarities with this boy in front of me. Perhaps he learned to get used to it. _If I can make sure that he does not, I will. He doesn't deserve that sort of life. He's just a child._

I kneel down in front of him. "Just know that I like you, okay?" I brush his hair back away from his face. "Never forget that in this world there's someone who likes you." _Perhaps if he remembers, he will never leave Iwa._

He nods very seriously. "I'll remember, Cousin Hana, un."

I pat him on the head. "That's good. Make sure you keep that promise, alright?"

"DEIDARA." The crowd around us parts. There's the third Tsuchikage, his arms crossed over his chest as he strides forwards. Deidara wilts. "What have you been doing all day?"

I lean down to whisper in Deidara's ear. "Remember you're not supposed to call me cousin in front of other people, ne?" _I can like him. I can care a bit about him. But he's not my most precious person, and I won't like it if he's the reason I can't go home._

"I was spending the day with Leafy, un!" He steps forwards towards his teacher bravely. "Leafy has my nose, so I though maybe..." He trails off. "Maybe she'd like me."

The Tsuchikage scrutinizes me again. "The more I look at you, the less you look like anyone I know." _That's a relief._

"I'm glad we could come to that understanding, Tsuchikage-san." I bow to him, as much as should be afforded to man of his stature.

"You should stop consorting with weak Konoha shinobi, Deidara." _It would be more polite if you didn't say that right in front of me._ The Tsuchikage sets a hand on Deidara's shoulder and marches him off. "Didn't you want to show me something the other day?"

Deidara casts me a glance as he leaves, longing to keep shopping reflected in his blue-grey eyes. _He's really not entirely happy here._

* * *

Itachi sits in front of me with his slashed throat. "You killed me Hana."

"N-no. I didn't kill you, Ita!" I look around at the room, this bleeding room and feel blood rising in my throat. "I didn't kill you. It was a mud clone."

"You killed me Hana." He stands up, blood dripping down his shirt front. "I thought you wanted to change my fate." He laughs. "Is this a change?"

I turn and run from the room, eyes burning with tears. _No. No. No. That's not what I meant at all, Ita. No._

"Hana." Toku's in front of me now. Toku who's eyes are now completely unseeing, blind. He has his entire throat ripped out and I know by whose teeth. "Hana why did you kill me?" He takes a step towards me, and I take a step back. "I thought I was your brother."

"You are my brother, Toku." I take another step back.

He takes another step forwards. "Then why did you kill me, Hana?" The walls of the hallway are also bleeding, and I'm wading ankle deep in it.

"I didn't kill you, Toku." I whisper. "You weren't there."

I take another step back, and I'm back in the room with Itachi, but Toku's leaning against the door frame. "How are you sure it wasn't us that you killed?"

"How do you know?" Itachi asks.

"I just do know." I whisper. "Just like I know that none of this is real." But blood's in my mouth and I'm coughing, choking-

* * *

I sit up in the darkness of the room. "Hana?" Ichi's sitting in front of me, licking tears off of my face. "Hana? What's wrong?"

I reach for him, and bury my face in his neck. "I didn't kill them." I take a deep breath. "I didn't kill them. They're fine." And even if I knew it, even if I knew that there was no other way for me to have survived besides what I had done, I couldn't entirely convince myself.

"Of course you didn't kill them." Ichi looks at me with great puzzlement. "You couldn't kill them in real life if someone held a kunai to your throat and told you it was the only way to live. You knew it wasn't them from the moment those muddy things walked into the room."

I laugh at the thought. _It's not so unlikely that it could really happen._ "Thanks, Ichi."

I slide off of the bed. I'd been given a room to myself tonight, since the remains of Asata-san's team had left for Konoha before noon. Even if I knew it, I really wanted to go and see the boys just to prove it to my irrational heart.

"We're coming with you." Ni bumps my hip with his exuberance. "I don't know how to talk properly."

San whines. "We believe you. You wouldn't hurt them."

"Thank you, guys." I kiss the ends of each of their noses in turn.

A scream bursts from the next room, rising up into the quiet of the night, and I'm out the door in my bare feet and pajamas, a single kunai in hand as I lunge through the open door.

"What's the matter?" There's Sensei with his own kunai scanning the room. There's Itachi, his eyes blood red in the darkness. And there's Toku, his shoulders shaking as he stares at his hands.

"I killed them." He whispers. "I killed my best friends." He gasps, trembles and closes his eyes. "I didn't-I killed them." I drop my kunai on the bedside table as I come to sit next to Toku.

"Toku?" I touch his shoulder, and he flinches away. "Toku, it's Hana."

He trembles. "I killed you this morning."

From the other side of the room, Itachi swallows, and heads over as well. "You didn't kill us. I didn't kill you two, and Hana didn't kill me and you." He sets his hand on Toku's other shoulder. "We're all still alive. No one killed anyone."

Toku rubs his hands over his face. "Yeah." He looks up at us, white eyes glowing in the moonlight. "I should know that, but I just dreamed-" He turns away. "It wasn't real."

"Of course it wasn't real." Sensei turns the lamp on, and the room is no longer quite so awful. "Can any of you picture killing a comrade for a promotion as part of your psyche?"

We shake our heads no.

"So there you have it. No one was killed." Sensei collapses back onto his bed and runs his fingers through his long, loose hair. "Kami damned Council. Kami damned stupid Iwa. Why'd you have to make your test the most psychologically brutal one on the rotation?" But after he's vented his grief about the idiocy that is Iwa's first Exam of the Chunin Exams, he opens his arms. "Get over here you three. Hugs for everyone involved. We're all sleeping here tonight." Sensei pauses to consider the lightening color of the sky and amends his statement. "This morning."

With great relief, we go to get hugs, and pull out our sleeping bags.

* * *

When we show up at about seven for the Second Exam, we are already tired.

Sensei trudges along with his hands in his pockets and a bruised tired look in his eyes. "I hate Iwa." He spits at Kitsuchi-san when we check in for the second exam..

Kitsuchi-san raises an eyebrow. "You mean to tell me something new today, Nara?"

Sensei unbends from his slouch. "No." He drawls. "I mean to tell you something near and dear to my heart."

Kitsuchi-san shrugs. "Doesn't bother me the slightest." _No matter how normal a shinobi from Iwa is, they don't see the problem in making genin believe that they have to kill their teammates to win a promotion._

 _They're all sick and twisted._

My thoughts return to the seven year old Deidara. _If he stays here, will this all become old hat to him too? Will that be his fate if he doesn't go nuke-nin?_

But there's no more time to think about that. Sensei steps back, looks us three in the eye and tells us a single piece of wisdom. "Forget about yesterday. You're a team today, you got it?"

We nod. "Yes, Sensei." For the moment, we lock away our guilt and our grief. "We won't let you down." Sensei's pride depended on us.

And the we'd make sure that the Council knew just how good of a teacher Sensei is. That he'd put in extra work for us.

He'd get his results. He's worth more than just his Nara brain. _Sensei has a loving heart. It's a wonder living through a war hasn't torn it all to pieces._

Sensei nods. "Don't get yourselves killed. It's better to forfeit than to push."

* * *

"Your second test, is a team brawl." Kitsuchi-san gestures to the four doors in front of us. "Each of the twelve remaining teams will draw a number from the hat we have here, that will determine your room. Three teams to a room, the last three people remaining in each room will move on to the tournament at the end of the month."

"We can do this." Itachi whispers. "It's team brawl."

I nod. "We know each other's fighting styles well enough."

"Plan 13c?" Toku whispers. "Stand back, let the other teams in the room go for blood and pick off whomever's left?"

The other teams would have shaky trust in each other today. Their bonds would be weaker after knowing that the other people they were depending on were willing to kill them for promotion.

Perhaps there'd be infighting in the rooms as each ninja tried to protect themselves.

"Yeah." Itachi murmurs back. "That sounds like a good plan. The other teams will be weak today."

And we are not weak. Sensei had given us just enough courage to forget what happened yesterday. _There will be a time for guilt and pain when we win._

"Now, send a representative from each team to pick a number from the hat." Kitsuchi-san claps his hands together, and I walk up the platform with determination in my step.

 _No one I love is dying today._

The number two is written on the heavy white paper. "Konoha's Team Ensui is in room two." I announce.

Kistuchi-san makes a note of it. "Very good."

* * *

There is a team from Kiri in our room, and a team from Suna. Not the same team as the boy that I'd talked to in the hallway outside the second exams, but one of them seems to recognize someone in the room and fairly soon their team is collected together in a quick huddle.

Then a male proctor, not Kitsuchi-san, walks in. "Now, we don't really want needless deaths in this event." He smirks at us. "That's what I'm supposed to tell you anyway. I can't really prevent your deaths given that I'm going to be standing in this box here." _Well aren't you kind and helpful._ "So you're in charge of preventing the deaths of your enemies." He shrugs. "I don't care much either way."

He steps back. "Begin."

We slip into a triangular formation, a dog for each child.

The team from Kiri erupts with infighting, and the team from Suna comes for us. I throw a brace of shuriken at the boy heading towards me which he deflects. But it's only to buy time. I fly through four hand signs and feel the floor open up to swallow me, leaving only Ichi behind to defend that point of the triangle. _I'll trust Ita and Toku to defend themselves._

I open my ears. His footsteps have faltered... he's confused about where I am. _There._ I expel a small amount of chakra from my feet, and my hands break air.

He's dragged screaming down with me. I bury him up to his neck and then erupt from the ground with a slightly larger amount of chakra used to break free, a kunai at the ready. But it's unnecessary. I glance at the boy who's still buried and wriggling furiously. It is the work of a moment to slam the blunt end of the kunai against his temple, and he's out cold.

Toku's sealed half the tenketsu points on his opponent's arms. "Six Trigrams: Thirty Two Palms." His hands are a blur as he pummels the girl. She drops as his hands slow, no longer capable of moving.

Itachi's got the other boy snarled in ninja wire. A single hand sign would set him aflame. "I suggest you yield." Itachi suggests mildly, and the other boy glares at him.

"You wouldn't be so hot without a sharingan." He spits at Itachi's feet.

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "In case you haven't noticed, I could burn you to death in half a minute." The fact that he has not is the only suggestion of last night that there is in this whole set up.

I walk over and hit his opponent with the blunt handle of the kunai. "You should have just used taijutsu on him, Ita." The boy from Suna slumps. Itachi and I look at each other. _Since when did our fights get this easy?_

"I didn't know how good they were." _I didn't want to actually kill anyone. I didn't want to see the blood._ His true words go unsaid, but I understand all the same.

Toku cracks his knuckles. _Yeah I didn't either._ "So what's left in this room?" We turn to see.

There's been blood spilled on the other side of the room, and two of the three Kiri nin are still standing, if bleeding from several small cuts and probably low on chakra.

They stand shoulder to shoulder and there's fear in their eyes when they look at us. "I suggest you surrender." I comment mildly as I run a hand through Ni's fur. I can still feel the scar he has on his side. _I don't want you to get hurt again._

"Never." The kunoichi brandishes a katana before her. "We won't ever surrender."

The boy glances at her, and then back at us. "I don't think we can take them, Fumei." He whispers.

"We have to try." She hisses back. "We can't have just murdered Haru for nothing."

"We don't have any injuries." Itachi comments. "And it's six to two." _He included the Triplets._ I feel a smile pull at the corners of my mouth. _He remembers that I have three partners._

 _"_ So?" Fumei responds.

With a sigh, I flash through four hand signs and disappear beneath the floor. Itachi and Toku calmly move forwards, pushing them towards a corner where it would be easy enough for me to bury them.

In another fifteen minutes, they are also knocked out and buried up to the neck.

"No one's going to die today?" The proctor asks. He sounds almost disappointed. _What an awful man._

I look back at him. "Mercy is enthroned in the hearts of kings." I whisper. "It is twice blessed. For he who gives and he who takes." _I do not want to kill anyone if I don't have to._

I look down at my bloodless hands. _At this moment I do not have to._

"Well then." The proctor looks decidedly put out. "You three can leave the room as the victors." We look at each other, a small smile mirrored on each of our faces.

 _We passed._ Toku does not have his throat ripped out. Itachi's throat is uncut.

"You're unburnt." Itachi whispers as he bumps his shoulder with mine.

"And both of you haven't been jyukened to death." Toku answers and slings an arm over my shoulder.

"Do you think we'll be okay?" I ask.

Toku laughs. "Everyone's okay except for Sensei. He's probably half dead because we disturbed his sleep."

The corners of Itachi's mouth tilts up. "Sensei'll forgive us."

"Sensei does forgive you for scaring him half to death by being the last room to finish." Sensei drawls with his arms crossed over his chest as he leans against the opposite walls. "Sensei wants his minions to not scare him or give him gray hair before he's thirty."

I bounce over to him. "But Sensei," I ask and very carefully bat my lashes at him. "Where's the fun in that?"

Sensei flicks my forehead. "I like things that aren't fun."

* * *

 **A.N.** Sometimes the mountain we're climbing is just a grain of sand. Sometimes the opponents we think are fearsome are actually not so difficult. So far, Team Six has faced just so many earth shattering problems, such as that one teleporting missing nin, and the false death of their own teammates, it's almost strange for them to be facing normal genin level opponents.

That's why the fight scenes in this chapter are so weird. They just aren't used to it, so the knockout is decidedly disconcerting for all of them.

Thanks to rickrossed (I happen to have a soft spot for Deidara, he's just so funny as an adult), SophieNewman, Alizay (I've always felt that flashing back to life before is a bit pointless. Hana has slowly accepted that she's Hana, not whomever she was before, thus, no flashbacks.), HiddenYori (Hana and Itachi are nine, Toku and Muta are twelve, three years older than Hana, Ensui-sensei is twenty nine or thereabouts. Hopefully this makes you less confused.), ManawaSasa, Sam (I'm of the opinion that most children aren't bad at heart), May525 (I update quickly though, people say so!), WhiteFang001, and Born to Sleep (I fixed it, thanks for telling me!) for reviewing!

And thank you to everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina.


	34. Iwa Chunin Exams Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Hana, what's your favorite story from history?" Toku asks as he leans back against the stone. We are sitting in one of the open training grounds in Iwa, sharpening our kunai on whetstones.

"I don't know." I flick the water off the kunai that I'm holding and hand it over to Itachi to dry. "There's too much that's fictionalized." _Not to mention too much that isn't written._

"If you had to choose though, who'd be your hero?" Itachi carefully wipes the kunai and sets it on the pile of already sharpened kunai.

Toku picks one and slides it back into his weapons pouch. "My hero's Haya-neesan."

I blink. "Not Koma-senpai?"

Toku leans back and smiles lazily. "Nah. Neesan's much stronger than Niisan." He flicks a kunai up into the air and catches it through the loop in the handle with a finger. "She was really strong back when they were genin, always outdoing Niisan. She can still beat him into the dust." That...didn't suit the image I have of Hyuga Haya to be honest.

She's always been the quiet, demure, medic in the background. "Why is she working at the hospital then?" Itachi asks. "I thought she didn't make jonin?"

Toku twirls the kunai around his fingers. "She lost a teammate on a mission once, because she didn't know anything besides fighting. Haya-neesan's never been quite the same afterwards. That's why she's a medic at the hospital." Toku sighs. "I admire how resilient she is to keep going after losing a teammate. I don't know if I could do the same."

"She wanted to save people then." I stop sharpening the next kunai. "It's a good thing to admire." I turn back to my thoughts. _Who do I respect?_ "I think, if I had to chose a hero, it would be Kaa-san." I say at last.

The boys both pause to consider it. "But you and your Kaa-san are so different." Toku finally says.

"I admire Kaa-san for her strength." I say. "For how she never lets anyone else's status dictate what she's going to say and for saying what she means, always." But it's more than Kaa-san's blunt and honest ways that I love. "I admire how proud she is, how she's lost but never gives in." _Kaa-san had lost a sister and a husband in a year and she had loved both of them with all her heart. Yet she's still standing._

Could I do the same? I didn't know that.

"I guess I'm different then." Itachi laughs. "My hero's the Shodaime." He looks off into the distance. "I want to be able to stop wars like he did. He mended a feud between two warring clans and brought people together."

I shiver despite how warm it is. _I have yet to save your future, Ita-kun. Stop going around and saying things like that._

"Ne, Sensei?" Toku leans over to where Sensei is lazily draped over the rock. "Who's your hero?"

"My hero huh..." Sensei flips himself up into a sitting posture. "I'd say you three should start your sparring match at about now." _Seems this is a sensitive topic for Sensei. I wonder if he's lost hope in something before?_

But then I remember that Sensei's lived through a war zone before. _He's probably lost conviction in many things before. Silly me for thinking of Sensei the same way he presents himself all the time._

* * *

The boys have shifted their match out onto the water, towards the lake, and Sensei's moseyed over there to watch them. The Triplets had gone with to watch the show, as apparently watching me attempt to learn jutsu is irritatingly boring and less fun than the sparring matches. I am attempting to learn the Earth Spike jutsu, as it is my task for the month. It is five hand signs.

Snake, Dragon, Tiger, Monkey, Ram. The earth buckles upwards slightly, and I count it as sort of a win. Settling back into position I flash through three hand signs and raise an earth ring.

"So I am capable of doing this properly." I muse as I reabsorb the chakra I'd released into the ground. "Is it the fact that I'm not shaping the chakra correctly before release?" For Earth Walking I had to supply chakra to my feet, and then endeavor not to feel claustrophobic. For a mud wall or a mud ring I just needed to feel the earth rise, and supplement it with my own chakra.

"What're you doing?" A voice whispers next to my ear and I jump a kunai in my hand. A flash of blond hair and big blue eyes. _Oh. It's just him._

"Deidara-kun, it's better to announce yourself from a bit farther away." I put the kunai away. "And to answer your question, I'm attempting to make the Earth Spike jutsu work."

"You have an earth affinity too, un?" He tilts his head back with a smile. "I have two affinities, un!" _The Explosion Release is two natures, right? Earth and..._

"You already know your affinity?" I smile at him. "That's impressive." _He is the Tsuchikage's student after all._

He giggles. "You're trying the Earth Spike one, un?" He stands with his feet shoulder width apart and uses only three hand signs before slamming his hands down. A line of earth spikes rises with varying intensity and speed. "'S easier if you make the chakra pointy." He tells me very seriously. _And of course, he knows how to do this._

 _Little prodigy._ I think fondly. "Alright." I ruffle his hair. "I'll try it your way."

But even as I raise my hands into the snake sign, Deidara asks me another question. "Cousin Hana, un?"

"Yes?" I slam my hands onto the ground and watch as a series of seven spikes wobble their way into existence. It's not as impressive as his, but it's good enough for what I want.

"Did you get hurt during the test, un?" I smile up at him.

"Nope, un." _Was he worried? I've only known him for maybe two days._ "Why'd you ask?"

He scuffs the ground with the tip of his shoe. "It's super dangerous to take the chunin exams. The Old Man said so, un." _The Tsuchikage's talked with you about the chunin exams?_

"Don't worry, Deidara-kun." I sit down next to him. "I don't think I'm going to get hurt much this time around."

"This time around, un?" He leans closer. "There was a last time?"

"I took the exams during the last rotation in Suna." I respond. "It went a lot worse there."

"I don't want to exams to end, un." He sets his head against my shoulder and taps his foot against the ground. "Then you'll have to go away again, and no one will like me anymore."

 _You, oh you._ I wrap an arm around his thin shoulders. "I'll still like you even if I'm two countries away, Deidara-kun."

He sniffs. "It won't be the same, un." And suddenly he's bawling in my lap. "The Old Man didn't like my spider, Cousin Hana." _What?_ "He thinks-" Deidara gasps and shudders. "It was just a game." He buries his face back in my lap. "He thinks I play too much. The Old Man doesn't like art, un." _Kami forbid that a seven year old actually acts like a seven year old._

"Show me your spider." I take his hand. "I want to see what it looks like." Deidara turns his face up to look at me and I use a sleeve to brush away his tears. "I think it's nice that you made him a spider." _And he's a horrible old man if he didn't like your present._

"I'll show it to you later, un." He's glanced at the sky and realized that it's almost noon. "If I don't go back, I'll get yelled at again."

"Alright. Show me your spider later." I let him go.

Before he races off into the distance, he beams at me. "I knew you'd like to see them, Cousin Hana, un!"

And I can't help it, his laughter's infectious.

* * *

"Toku-kun and Itachi-kun." Sensei waves a hand at them. "Go find a place for us to eat dinner, I want to ask Hana-chan about her progress today."

The boys look at each other, at me, and then at Sensei. Clearly, they are confused about what's going on. "Sure, En-sensei." They chorus and head out into the city proper.

I, however, knew exactly what Sensei wanted to talk about, but I didn't want to talk about it. I cross my arms over my chest, lean against the rock face, and wait for Sensei to open the conversation. _I could never hide anything from a Nara, especially not a Nara who pays as much attention to me as Sensei does. Besides, I've got nothing to hide from him._

"You've been talking to the Tsuchikage's student." Sensei drawls, and in the coming twilight his face is wreathed in shadows. "Is that wise?"

"He's only a child." I counter. "He hasn't any parents and his teacher is often strict with him." _He's an unhappy child who's willing to love anyone that says a good word to him._

We walk together, a little ways out of the training ground. Sensei sticks his hands in his pockets and slouches forward. "I didn't ask you why you do it, Hana-chan." He casts me a look that I cannot read. "I'm asking you if you think it's wise."

"Probably not." I say and copy his posture. We slouch towards where Toku and Itachi are arguing together. "But I'm not looking to be wise right now."

"Mmm." Sensei shrugs. "We'll be leaving in a month. Don't get too attached, Hana-chan."

"I won't, Sensei." _I know I can't afford to. He's not a bad kid, but he's not worth more to me than Kiba-chan._

"I mean it, Hana." Sensei's tone is serious, but he doesn't look at me. "You've got a good heart. You just might get too attached."

* * *

"Hah!" I leap forwards towards Toku, and he catches my kick on his wrist, and turns my momentum away, to somewhere past him. I fall forwards and roll out of his range.

From behind us a Katon jutsu roars to life. "Katon: Phoenix Sage Flower." I make four very familiar hand signs and the earth swallows me up. _Now, where did Itachi go?_

I can't find him properly, and I'm concerned about whether or not Toku made it out of the flame path with his long and flowing hair intact. I burst out from the ground and...are those shuriken explosive?

Three hand signs. "Doton: Earth Ring." The impact is enough to rock my almost dome, but not break it completely. I pull more chakra to my ears. _Where are they? There._

A kunai in hand I charge. Itachi answers with another three exploding shuriken which I redirect to somewhere to the left while still moving forwards. He makes two hand signs. "Katon: Great Fireball."

I make three. "Doton: Earth Wall." As the wall rises and the flames seep over the top, I see Toku standing behind Itachi.

"Six Trigrams, Two Palms." I melt below the earth. _They should still be there._ "Sixteen Palms." _There he is._

I wrap my hands around his ankles. "Gotcha." I only pull Toku down to his knees-it would be a pain to dig him out later if I did a full body burial-and rise slowly out of the earth.

Itachi whips a kunai across my throat. He holds it there lightly though, and there's no threat in it.

"I yield." I announce and his kunai drops.

Toku's scowling when I come over to pull him free of the earth. "You know, Hana. I only let down my guard 'cause I was worried you'd get burned to a crisp."

I laugh. "I know better than to get fried by a teammate before the Third Exam, you know." I'm happy that the spar went well, but I'd used only four jutsu this entire match and a bit of chakra to enhance my hearing. My legs still feel like jelly.

Sensei's clapping rings out across the field. "I think you three have been doing well." He grins ruefully. "Tomorrow, you three will spar for fifteen minutes one on one with me."

"Really, Sensei?" Itachi looks at Sensei quizzically. "You never take part in spars though." _Oh Kami, you don't know anything about Sensei's skills in a sparring match._

Toku bumps his shoulder. "There's a good reason for that, Ita-kun."

I shudder. "Sensei's the Devil. Especially in taijutsu only matches."

Sensei chuckles. "I only forced you to use the Earth Wall jutsu three times the last time, Hana-chan."

I stick my tongue out at him. "Well, I was also a year younger than I am now. It was exhausting alright, Sensei?"

He ruffles my hair. "Don't be such a brat, Sprout." He pokes my cheek. "Inuzukas are supposed to be durable."

Ichi huffs. "I don't have that durable a human partner." From behind me, Ni and San break out into doggy chuckles.

I glare at them. "Stop that!"

"Sensei?" Itachi appears on Sensei's other side. "If you are actually good at taijutsu why do you never actually spar with us?"

"Because I'm a lazy Nara." Sensei deadpans. "That and lethal take down techniques are not to be used on my cute genin students when I don't know if they're good enough to dodge."

Itachi pales. "Oh."

Sensei sets a hand on his shoulder. "Let's go visit that nice tea house I found yesterday."

* * *

The morning of the tournament dawns crisp. We troop down to the stadium together.

"No hard feelings if someone beats someone else in the ring today?" Toku asks, his hands laced behind his head.

"No hard feelings." Itachi bumps his shoulder. "We should wipe the floor with our first opponents though. There are still another nine people, we won't have the first rounds with each other unless luck really hates us."

Sensei sets a hand on each of our shoulders, and ruffles our hair in turns. "If the Vicious Hag was here she'd want to coo over how much you've grown. Just take it from me that we're both proud of you three today." He smirks. "Now go out and get them."

"Yes, Sensei." We slouch forward together, a mimic of his normal pose. "We won't let you down."

"Wait, un!" Deidara races around the corner. "Leafy, take this." He shoves two things into my hand. "Put it in your pouch, un. Throw it at someone dangerous and it will explode." He whispers. "I'll show you my spider later, un."

I don't open my hand. _He wants to make sure that I'm safe?_ "Thanks, un." I smile at him. "I'll hold you to it."

He grins and runs away up into the stadium seats. "I'll watch you fight, Leafy!" I slip his present into my pouch.

Sensei and the boys seem to want to ask something, but there's no time for that. The Hokage's arrived.

He's flanked by about eight ANBU. "Hello Ensui." One of them has spiky silver hair, and I do my best to not seem surprised. _Kakashi's here?_

Sensei bows. "Hokage-sama. I'm honored that you're here to watch my team." Unlike the other Chunin Exam I'd been in, there's only one team from Konoha in the finals. It's just us.

To be honest, I'd not expected the Hokage to travel across two countries to watch three genin from his village fight in a pit in a country as hostile as Iwa, but perhaps he has a reputation to maintain. Perhaps he is attempting to be accepting.

The Hokage smiles. "Your team has been a credit to Konoha." He looks at the three of us with approval in his eyes. "I expect to see great things from you three today."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." We don't look at each other. It would be rude to do so in front of the Hokage. "We are very proud to represent Konoha today." We chorus.

"Will the competitors come down to the fighting pit?" Kitsuchi-san lines up the twelve remaining genin, and one of them is that boy from Suna who'd been so rude after the first test, and another is Nii Yugito. "Now we'll begin the tournament. Step forwards and pick a number from the hat. That will determine your opponent and your bracket."

We choose slips of paper, and hold them in our fists until Kitsuchi asks for our numbers.

"Three" Itachi says, and drops his slip back in the hat.

Kitsuchi-san makes a note of it. "Who's the other three?"

"I do." Nii Yugito steps forwards. She also drops her slip back. She sees me, and winks. "I want to fight you later, Little Leaf. It seems that it'll have to be after I take on your teammate."

I feel my lips curl up. "Yeah. I'll look forward to it if you beat Ita-kun."

"Four." I state. _The number of death. That's rough._

It's the boy from Suna who steps forward after my announcement. "I have the other four."

"Six." Toku whispers.

A boy from Kumo, he might have been on Nii Yugito's team, steps forward. "I have the other six."

I'm beginning to believe that it is no accident that we've been split so that we'd have to fight each other to get to the top. _If I win my match, and Itachi wins his we have to fight. And then whoever wins that match fights Iwa, and Toku gets a bye._

I tune out the last words before the first match. I run my hands through Ichi and Ni's fur, and pat San on the head. "We're all going to be in the ring together today." I whisper at them.

Two shinobi from Iwa forfeit when they realize who they have to fight. _The two that are left are likely important from an in village standpoint or they're just simply too good. We'll see which one it is when they're matched with each other._

"Now, would Uchiha Itachi of Konoha and Nii Yugito remain in the pit while the other competitors return to the viewing area?" Kitsuchi-san smiles widely as we troop up the stairs to the waiting area.

 _Stay safe, Ita-kun. She's a jinchiruki._ "Be careful." I whisper, as I brush past him. "She made it out of the first test before me."

Itachi's eyes widen. "Got it." He nods.

* * *

It is strange watching a teammate of mine fight alone. But Itachi settles into a practiced taijutsu stance. _The traditional Uchiha style._ My mind supplies helpfully. _He's been working on that, but hasn't used it in a sparing match._

"Let the first match begin!" Kitsuchi-san announces and leaps back.

Itachi and Yugito clash in a flurry of sparks. Itachi's the first one to leap back. Her fingers had gained claw like extensions and his blood trickles down his arm into the sand below.

"Hey." The boy from Suna comes to stand next to me. "So guess what I heard after asking my Sensei a question."

I'm concerned about Itachi, but he's flashing through the five hand signs necessary for the Phoenix Sage Flower Jutsu, and I can't help him at the moment. Besides, ignoring other people is rude, and while I'm blunt, I do have manners.

"What did you learn?" I ask, not taking my eyes off of Itachi's fight down in the ring.

I see him smirk out of the corner of my eye. "He said that there was a girl with three dogs who ripped out her opponent's throat during the exams last year back at home." Below, Yugito dodges the Katon jutsu and makes for Itachi again. Itachi throws a few kunai towards her that she deflects, but I see the ninja wire attached. _He'll be fine. There's going to be no deaths down there._

"And you deduce that the girl is me." I murmur. "How very smart of you."

"I'm here to beg for mercy actually." He says, in all mock seriousness. "I would like my throat to stay where it is, thank you very much."

Ichi looks at him with disdain. "We won't need to rip him. You just need a few earth jutsu and he'd be down under."

"Believe me." I whisper as Itachi tightens the ninja wire and strings Yugito up. She sustains a few long ranged injuries due to his excellent shuriken skills. "I would prefer that option immensely as well."

"You would?" He leans forwards. "Well I'm Ishimaru Masato. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Inuzuka-chan." Yugito disappears in a poof of smoke and a log's ensnared instead.

"Likewise, Ishimaru-kun." I whisper as Itachi whirls around and flashes through four hand signs for the Great Fireball Jutsu.

It backs Yugito into the wall beneath us as she leaps to evade. Itachi races forwards, matching her in taijutsu again despite the still dripping wound on his arm. But her arms are injured too and the claws on her hands have disappeared.

In another four minutes, it's over. Itachi stands over her with his hands in the last seal for Great Fireball. "Concede." He says very clearly. "And there will be no more blood."

Down in the ring, Nii Yugito loses the first fight. And Itachi heads over to be checked on by a medic.

* * *

"Ita-kun!" I race over to check on his arms as he arrives back in the waiting area. "Are you alright?"

Toku's half a beat behind me. "Yeah, it didn't look like it hampered you much down in the ring, but still, is everything fine?"

Itachi smiles tiredly. "Yes. But I think I used too much chakra in that match." He sighs. "We should ration our chakra more."

"You can't say that." I counter and gesture towards Sensei who's still in the stands with the Hokage. "Our first priority is not dying."

* * *

"Will Inuzuka Hana of Konoha and Ishimaru Masato from Suna come down for the fourth match?" I glance back at Itachi and Toku and then up into the stands at Sensei, the Hokage, and Kakashi. _Well, here goes._

I flip over the railing and into the ring. The Triplets follow me down.

"Let the fourth match, begin!" Kitsuchi-san leaps back, and I make four hand signs. _Time to see what he knows._ I melt into the earth, and the Triplets leap at him, Fang over Fang over Fang for them, and the earth walk for me. The Triplets must have missed, because Ni's angry growl is unmistakably frustrated.

I narrowly miss being electrocuted and decide that the earth is not a nice place for me to stay. _Is he a sensor, or does he just have a teammate who earth walks?_ I attempt a grab at his ankles, but Ishimaru's already moving away. _Somehow, I'm having flashbacks to the last exam in Suna._ I toss Ichi a soldier pill and shift onto all fours. _Doton is weak against Raiton. I can't use any of the earth jutsus that I know in this match. Except for the earth spike jutsu, but I'm saving that for the match with Itachi._

And we are one and the same and I feel our brothers shifting beside us. We leap and clash against the enemy our jaws snapping, teeth moving. The Raiton shock through our systems is unpleasant. And I distinctly smell the scent of singed fur.

We drop to the ground behind Ishimaru, a girl and her dog again. _Well, there's no help for it. We tried._

Ishimaru turns around, breathing hard. "It doesn't look like you're that scary after all." My lips pull back in a snarl.

My hand slides into my pouch. "Don't speak too early." I mutter under my breath. And then I lob one of the two whatever they were that Deidara had given me before the match at him. _He actually gave me more than one clay thing._

 _He's such an overprotective little genius._

The resulting explosion is...extensive. Sand billows, forwards and I automatically shield my face as I leap away from the blast, the Triplets not even half a beat behind. _I could get used to amazing explosions like this._

"You should tell us when you do this, Hana!" San barks.

I grin at him sheepishly. "I didn't expect it to be that big." From the other side of the dust cloud, Ishimaru staggers to his feet.

"I'm not done yet." He gathers lightning in his hands, but it's weak and indistinct.

I shift back on to all fours. "Well, come." I leap at him and we grapple around on the floor of the arena. But this is not like last time.

This time, I'm not the one who's desperate to avenge something. He does still manage to scratch my arms with a double pointed kunai and knife me once in the leg, but I ram my knee into his stomach and cut a tendon behind his knee. He hisses in pain. Clearly, he'd been cut before, because normally cut tendons are a cause for screams, but he makes very little noise.

I hold a kunai to his throat, and the fight goes out of Ishimaru. "I yield."

I get to my feet rather shakily. "The winner of the match is Inuzuka Hana." Kitsuchi-san announces, and appraises me with new eyes. _Did he think I survived thus far due to only the merits of my teammates?_

 _He ought not think such a thing._ I pull Ishimaru to his feet and sling his arm over my shoulder. _He probably needs to see a medic._ "Good fight." I offer, and he doesn't seem too upset. "Proctor-san, I think we need a medic here." My own leg isn't feeling too great right now despite the cut on it only being over muscle. Still, the slippery feeling of blood is bad, and if we stood around for too long, it might cost us both a leg.

"Good fight." Ishimaru replies. "What was that explosion? I didn't see a kunai with a tag." _Of all the things you had to ask._

"Oh, I brought my own explosives." _I'm just hedging the truth a little._ "At any rate, it's been a while since I've been forced from the ground before."

He grins. "Well, I didn't want to fight Uchiha anyway." He looks at me and winks. "Better you than me. You're not half bad." _And you, Ishimaru-kun are one of the few foreign ninja that I've fought that did not want to all out kill me._ And given that we are both fine after a few minutes at the medic tent, we head back up to watch the matches.

* * *

The next match, match five, marks the first death in the exam. The shinobi from Kumo, which I assume to be a teammate of Yugito's has the shinobi from Suna pinned to one of the walls with ninja wire.

And then the Raiton jutsu begin in earnest. The first scream rips the air apart and I feel a shudder run down my spine. _Is this what death sounds like?_

"No." Ishimaru's clutching the bars of the balcony. He's leaning against the edge as sweat beads at his temple. "No. NO."

"What's the matter?" I ask. _He knows that boy down there, doesn't he?_

Ishimaru turns to me with a smile that looks like it's made of broken glass. "I did always tell Asahi that he'd get himself killed." He turns back to the scene as if he couldn't tear his eyes away. "Why aren't you forfeiting, you idiot?" He whispers, and against the darkness of the metal, his knuckles are horribly, horribly white.

 _More importantly, why aren't they stopping the match down there? It's clear who won already._

The screams go on, on and on and on and on and on. My eyes find the Hokage's box. _Sensei. I need-where._

I meet the wrong eyes. ANBU Hound has just glanced across the stadium. Very carefully, he inclines his head. _Breathe._ I hear Kakashi's voice whisper in my ear. _Breathe._

I take a breath, and then I let it go. _There are more important concerns._ The boy down below has stopped screaming.

I make my way over to Toku, who looks decidedly green. "You'll have to fight the teammate of this one, Toku." I whisper. "I don't think they're going to accept your forfeit should you choose to make one."

He looks over at me, steely determination sparking in his eyes. "He's going to be the one who asks for mercy." We stand, shoulder to shoulder.

Itachi squeezes Toku's other shoulder. "Please don't die."

"Oh I don't plan to." Toku looks down at his hands. "Oops. It looks like I've bent the railing on this thing." And indeed he had clenched too tightly.

* * *

Toku slides down the wall as though he's surfing and drops into the pit. The sixth match has begun.

Itachi and I stand and watch from above. He sets his hand over mine. "Toku-kun will be fine."

"Toku better be fine." I mutter. "He's not so stupid to get caught like that."

Below, the opponent from Kumo has clearly not realized the futility of engaging a Hyuga in close quarter combat.

Toku has half the tenketsu points on his arms sealed before he even knows what's going on.

The match is disturbingly fast after that. "Yield." And Toku's veins are bulging even more as he says this. "Yield or die." His stance is clear, precise, and he isn't even breathing hard.

He's up in the stands with us a moment later. "They make me angry." He says.

I squeeze his hands. "No one died this time."

* * *

I spoke too soon. The next match between the two shinobi from Iwa dies the floor of the pit red. It happens so fast that it's almost hard to process.

 _I don't want to go earth walking in that anymore._ The medics cart the body of the dead girl off into the sidelines. _And I thought Nara Kasuga using my body as a meat shield was bad. He didn't intend to kill me. I might have to forgive him when we get back to Konoha._

The sun is directly overhead now, and we break for lunch. We're sitting with the Hokage, his ANBU guard, and Sensei.

"One of us is going to have to fight that one that just killed someone from their own village." I frown at Itachi. "We can't have an overdrawn match or we'd die." _The next fight after lunch is Itachi and me, and then it's Toku and the other Kumo ninja, the one that had killed someone._

 _But after that, either Itachi or I will have to face the boy from Iwa. And whoever wins that fights Toku for the final match._

"Just taijutsu then?" Itachi asks, his eyes flickering back and forth. Clearly he's also uneasy about this opponent. "So we can keep our chakra stores replenished." He clarifies.

"That will be a good idea." I set a hand over his. "But you know what would be a better one? I forfeit and you don't have to go through a taijutsu taxing fight either."

Itachi looks torn, and Toku breaks in. "You can't do that Hana." I raise an eyebrow at me and he goes on. "You'll lose a chance at promotion then. At least have the taijutsu fight."

Itachi nods. "You shouldn't forfeit just so I can have full reserves."

 _Are they idiots? Itachi's going to go up against someone who has no compunctions about killing a fellow shinobi from their own country. There wasn't even any hesitation during that fight. It was a rip your throat out kind of deal._ "No." I state flatly. "I'm forfeiting. There's no way I'm prioritizing looking good for the judges over your life against that enemy."

They still have protests, and Sensei's eyes are shadowed beyond belief, but I refuse to budge.

 _I'm not going to change your fate by making you die of all things, Itachi._ The dream I'd had before the second exam rises to the forefront of my mind. _Take that, dream nonsense. I won't be cowed by you._

* * *

"I forfeit." I announce as soon as we land down in the pit for the eighth match.

Kitsuchi-san raises an eyebrow at me. "You're mostly fresh, are you sure?"

I raise my own eyebrow right back at him. "I'm sure." Right after he calls the match in Itachi's favor, I remember Deidara's present.

I still have one left. I slip it in Itachi's hand as we leave to go back up into the stands. "Throw it at the enemy. It should cause the same size explosion as during my match." I whisper at him.

He's confused, but he nods. "I'll remember that."

I pass Kitsuchi-san with a smile that looks as fake and plastic as I feel. Unbidden, my eyes find ANBU Hound again. _I wonder what you're thinking, Kakashi?_

 _You're not made of stone. These deaths meant something to you._ Kakashi does not move again, but I feel his eyes follow me, up into the stands, and there it ends.

* * *

Toku's summoned down to the ring for the ninth match. The other Kumo nin seems to have learned from his teammate's mistakes. He stays farther than an arm's length away from Toku, and expects Toku to chase him.

Unfortunately for him, he has to be able to catch Toku in the ninja wire to have something for his Raiton to travel on.

Trying to trap an enraged Hyuga in ninja wire is a difficult task. Still, he does manage to catch one of Toku's arms, and the resulting jutsu makes Toku grimace in pain before he snaps the ninja wire with a dulled kunai.

And then I understand why Toku had been caught at all. He catches the end of the still spiraling ninja wire that is connected to his opponent and pulls. "Six Trigrams: Two Palms."

 _He used an injury to lure the enemy within the range of his divination._

 _He's really angry this time._ "Eight Palms."

The Kumo nin is having a hard time defending himself, but he does manage another Raiton jutsu in Toku's direction. It doesn't slow my enraged teammate the slightest.

"Sixteen palms." Toku's eyes are hard and angry. "Thirty two palms." His hands are a blur of harsh motion.

 _He's never been able to complete the sixty-four palms. He's always stopped at thirty-two. Koma-senpai said he wasn't ready for more than that when we left Konoha._

"SIXTY FOUR PALMS!" Toku roars and the Kumo nin collapses to the floor of the pit. And Toku immediately doubles over, his hands on his knees, trembling from fear, exertion, fatigue? I don't know.

But he's won the match.

* * *

When Toku comes back up, they're already calling Itachi down.

"Thank Kami I have a bye this round." He whispers as he sets his head on my shoulder. "I want to be able to worry about our teammate in peace."

"What do you think I want?" I wipe the sweat from his temple with a handkerchief I pulled from my pouch. "You really got angry out there."

"I don't know what I was thinking." He admits. "I just saw what he'd done to an opponent that already lost, and I couldn't."

"I know." We turn back to watch Itachi's match with the Iwa nin.

He's used two fire jutsu in the space of five minutes, breathing hard, but still mostly fine.

The sandy haired boy across the ring smirks. "I didn't think the Uchiha were this weak."

Itachi grits his teeth. "I won't be dying here today."

They flash through hand signs together, and Itachi blows out a huge cloud of fire...and the boy from Iwa does nothing?

Itachi misses. _What? He's never missed before?_

 _What's going on?_

Itachi's staggering, as if he's drunk, his eyes wide with horror. "No. No. No."

The sandy haired boy moves forwards for the kill and Itachi evades the cut to his throat just barely, the enemy kunai opening his shoulder instead, eyes still vacant.

"It's a genjutsu." Toku murmurs, his Byakugan active. "I don't know what he's seeing or how it's working, but I can see it in the air."

"Itachi!" I scream. "Genjustu!" _He has the Sharingan. This should be the work of a moment to fix._

It seems that he hears me, and he activates his sharingan. The genjustu is clearly gone, because his eyes are no longer caught in slack horror, but they're bleeding now, as he punches his opponent in the jaw, and he lands about five feet away.

Painfully bleeding, and when he raises his head it's clear that something is horribly horribly wrong. _Mangekyo. Itachi has Mangekyo._ The Iwa nin gets up.

His hands fall to his pouch as the Iwa nin closes in. He's searching for something, and his eyes are still bleeding. _Kami. How? How'd he-_ _I killed you._ He'd believed that he'd killed me that morning. His Mangekyo had activated before he realized that it was just a clone.

I felt my heart bleed. _Oh Itachi why didn't you say something?_ He'd been so quiet that morning, and later that night, but if his sharingan had been active- _He has that memory for the rest of his life. What else was it that he said? It's strange to see you?_

 _It must have been, if you so vividly remember my death._

And then Itachi throws something at the incoming Iwa nin, and that part of the stadium explodes.

Only Itachi rolls out from the blast, his eyes back to normal. He's bleeding from the shoulder, and it dies his shirt a darker shade. He has burns across his chest, light burns, but coupled with his emotional state it leave him swaying on his feet, and his eyes though normal, are haunted.

Kitsuchi-san calls Toku down. "Are they kidding?" Toku whispers.

I meet his eyes, still reeling from the epiphany. _Itachi has the Mangekyo. He has it four years earlier than canon. And it wasn't because Shisui died._ "No, Toku, I don't think they are."

Toku leaps down into the stadium.

"Now, let the final match be-"

"I forfeit!" Toku shrieks at Kitsuchi-san. "I forfeit." He runs forward to steady the still swaying Itachi, and suddenly I'm racing across the stadium floor.

My feet do not listen to my commands to stop. "ITA-KUN!" Before me, Itachi crumples into Toku's arms.

"MEDIC!" I scream. From the corner of my eye I see Sensei moving down into the stands, his face the same frightening blank that he always is when he's angry. _Sensei, help._

* * *

 **A.N.** This chapter is a monstrosity. And it refused to end. AHHHH. But now it's over. I despise fight scenes, and I wrote far too many for this chapter. And we realize that Itachi's actually been traumatized quite a bit throughout this entire ordeal. He did seem a little less traumatized than everyone else while they were having the 'oh my god I killed my teammates but not really' drama.

It was a lie.

Thanks so much to WhiteFang001, Everbear01 and Snidekick for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed!

And I'm very tired, so I'm going to bed now.

~Tavina.


	35. Iwa Chunin Exams Arc: Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Sensei's eyes are cold and hard, and the very air around him is oppressive, but he clamps back on his displeasure as he approaches us. "Itachi-kun?" He asks as he gently cups Itachi's face, and looks him in the eye. "We're going to go and see a medic now, alright?"

Carefully, Itachi nods. His eyes slip shut. "Thank you, Sensei."

Sensei picks him up, careful of his extensive injuries, and walks. A dead hush has fallen over the stadium now, and Toku and I trail behind without a second thought.

"Hana," Toku asks. "What's going on?" _Wouldn't I like to know?_

"I think Sensei's snapped." I whisper. "And it isn't the bad sort of snapped." _Sensei's students are his children to him. It doesn't matter if we have parents, he's our father in his head._

 _I'm not sure what we did to deserve such love._

We make it to the entrance of the medical tent before Sensei addresses the fact that the Hokage and his personal guard will be descending on the tent in a moment. "No words from either of you." His eyes are dark and serious.

We nod. "We'll be quiet, Sensei."

He frowns. "Be silent." He turns back to the tent, and Toku wordlessly lifts the flap so that Sensei could carry Itachi through without jostling him. We stand outside, a strange little gathering- a boy, a girl, and three overgrown wolf dogs. "Get out!" He roars at the medics inside, and they flee with bad grace. _What did Sensei do to them?_

"What is going on here?" The Tsuchikage's storming ahead, Deidara and Kitsuchi-san at his side, and the Hokage with his personal guard lags behind, caught by the crowd that does not part for them. I make very sure that I do not meet anyone's eyes. _If I do, perhaps they'll lift the truth from my mind._

Toku squeezes my shoulder, and the gesture is comforting, so I wrap an arm around his middle as well. _He's had a growth spurt recently?_ I could lean my head against his shoulder without bending down.

"I'm sure the children will explain." Kitsuchi-san suggests, looking at us with amused eyes. "They are the Uchiha Heir's teammates after all."

My mouth flattens into a hard line, and Toku's arm around my shoulders tightens. We exchange a glance even as the Tsuchikage glares at us expectantly. But we, we are mute as Sensei ordered. _You want any information from us, and you'll have to pry it from our cold bodies._ From beside me, Ichi growls, his hackles rising.

Ni and San are a beat behind him.

"Are you ignoring a direct order?" The Tsuchikage steps forwards, and I see Deidara glancing between his teacher and me with increasingly desperate frequency. _Oh hell no._

"We are not your soldiers." Toku snaps. "We are shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato." His grip on my shoulder is hard enough to bruise now, but I don't care.

The pain keeps me steady because _Kami. We are talking back to a Kage._

"We do not answer to you." The words tumble from my mouth more easily than I expected.

The Tsuchikage's face has fallen back on a murderous expression. "Kitsuchi-"

"You will pardon my countrymen, I hope." The Sandaime comments from behind him.

A shrill scream rips through the tent. "HANA!" It is Itachi's voice. I feel blood drain from my face. _What's going on in there? No. Don't think about it. If there are people I can trust right now, it is my team._

Sensei's voice, low, and indistinct answers him. There's a spike of chakra and then there are no more screams, just broken sobs. Sensei's still talking, indistinct sounds that may have been a lullaby float outwards towards us.

"You want to get away with not telling me what is going on?" The Tsuchikage crosses his arms over his chest, and glares up at the Sandaime. "I let you come with no limitations didn't I? I let your brats inside my village, didn't I?"

The Hokage merely exhales another puff of smoke. "We have violated no treaties, Onoki." And suddenly he is not an old man with a hat and a pipe anymore. He's the God of Shinobi, The Professor. "Itachi-kun's just had an adverse reaction to genjutsu." From besides the Tsuchikage, Deidara whimpers and crumples to the ground. "That's all, Onoki."

And Toku and I are caught in a battle of gods. The killing intent in the air is so thick it feels like we're breathing water. "Careful now." A voice murmurs next to my ear, and another hand is over Toku's. "Don't collapse." The pressure in the air lessens considerably. _Positive intent? Sensei's not out of the tent yet._

I can breath again. I turn my head a fraction away from the Tsuchikage. It is blasphemous and it feels horrifying when he's still overriding so many of my survival instincts. _Kakashi?_ ANBU Hound has his other hand on Toku's shoulder.

"Fine. Have it your way, Hiruzen." The Tsuchikage throws up his hands, and most of the tension bleeds out of the air. He stomps off, Kitsuchi-san and the still unconscious Deidara in tow. I gasp, and then Toku's coughing, choking on nothing but normal air.

The Sandaime turns to us, a mild smile on his lips as if there'd not nearly been war right then and there, the battlefield set between two of the most powerful men in the world. Perhaps it didn't matter when you're one of those men. "Are you two alright?"

Sensei steps out of the tent, Itachi still held protectively in his arms. His face is ashen, bloodless, but there's nothing else to show that he's been affected by the killing intent washing the area. "Would you not hurt my student more than he's already been hurt?" He snaps at the Hokage.

 _Sensei's never been particularly respectful of the Hokage, but this is excessive even for him._

"Ensui." The Sandaime says, and the air is tight again. "Do not forget yourself."

Sensei's chakra is a homing beacon, and his intent is not to kill. The overwhelming force of his positive intent surpasses even the amount that Kakashi had been projecting earlier. _It's safe. It's safe._

"I have never forgotten myself, Hokage-sama." He grits. "Itachi had an incredibly bad reaction to the hell viewing technique, given that he'd just _had to kill his teammates not a month ago._ And then you subjected him to an excessive amount of killing intent. It is a literal miracle that he isn't dead." _That's more your work than Kami's Sensei._

The Hokage sighs. "Was I supposed to let Onoki inside the tent?"

Sensei snorts and walks back towards the medical tent. "There were at least seven different ways to diffuse the situation that I thought of in half a minute." He glances back at the Hokage with a wry smile. "But I admit, you saw only soldiers on the line today, and what you did is perfectly acceptable if you consider my students soldiers."

"So what did you see on the line today, Ensui?" The Hokage looks tired, desperately tired, and brokenly old, his pipe hanging listlessly from his lips.

"My children." Sensei slaps ANBU Hound's hands away from us, and pulls Toku and I into the tent as well. "I saw my children on the line."

* * *

Sensei carefully sets Itachi down in a bed, and that's when he turns to the sink and crumples against it, coughing, a hand over his chest. "Sensei?" I ask, as I attempt to approach him.

"I'm." He gasps for a moment, and coughs wetly. "Fine. Hana-chan." Blood splatters into the sink.

"You aren't fine, Sensei." Toku walks over to set a hand on Sensei's arm. "Hana, go watch Ita-kun." He turns pleading eyes towards me as he rubs Sensei's back. "I'll watch Sensei."

Sensei attempts to glare at him weakly, but Toku's got his face set in that mulish expression that declares that he's taking no prisoners, so Sensei should just listen to him, or be razed to the ground.

I walk over to sit next to Itachi. There's still dried blood on his face, so I take a wet cloth and begin wiping it off. He's breathing shallowly, and slowly, his face so pale it might be rice paper. The lines on his face is worse at this angle, covered with blood and I want so badly to cry.

I can't cry. _Itachi. Why didn't you say anything? Itachi, why am I so important to you?_

We're friends, but I hadn't thought I was important enough for him. The Mangekyo awakening in Itachi was Shisui's right. It was proof of their brotherhood. I am...not the same. _Ita-kun. I will change your destiny. You won't have to kill anyone you love, not ever again._

The blood's gone from his face now, and I set the cloth down on the edge of the basin and pick up his hand instead. It is cold to the touch, and I attempt to warm it properly. _I will change this world. You will not be dealt the same hand twice._

"Be careful, Sensei." Toku helps Sensei to the bed next to Itachi's. "What was that?"

"Hmmm?" Sensei's not up to his normal drawl, but it certainly isn't an answer.

I set Itachi's hand down. I couldn't warm it even slightly. "I think what Toku means." I say to begin. "Is why were you coughing?"

It takes a long time for Sensei to respond. "Chakra exhaustion. The advanced kind."

"I don't think that's what it was, Sensei." Normal chakra exhaustion lead to fainting spells, weakness, and an inability to judge distances properly due to impaired brain signals. Further chakra exhaustion lead to death. None of the symptoms are coughing up blood.

"Are you questioning my authority?" Sensei levels a half hearted glare at me. I cross my arms and glare right back at him. _You will tell me what I want to know, Sensei._ "Do you know what spiritual exhaustion is?"

Toku and I shake our heads no.

"Well," Sensei's hands slide into the thinking seal, he lays back on the pillows, and he begins. "There are two energies that make up chakra, physical and spiritual." He sighs. "The Nara techniques deal with the spiritual. Our first ancestor was said to control the night itself."

"What does this have to do with you coughing up blood?" Toku glances down at Itachi, who is still, not awake. "Or are you getting to that part?"

Sensei absently rubs his chest. "I was getting to it, yes, Toku-kun." His eyes are blank as he continues. "As I was saying before I was interrupted, the Nara techniques deal with the spiritual. During the third war, I developed the ability to split my shadow from myself, and take the shadows of other objects and redirect them." _He split his own shadow? Away from his body? Doesn't that mean that Sensei wouldn't have a shadow?_ "It was an incredibly dangerous technique, of course, as the shadow is in essence the negative component of ourselves." Sensei continues without pausing to spare our feelings. "Today I pulled part of Itachi's shadow from him." Sensei raises an arm, and we could see that his own shadow is unnaturally dark. "Negative energy causes backlash when pulled away from the source."

"But what does that mean?" I ask. Somehow, I knew it wouldn't be good.

"It means that Itachi is alive and relatively sane right now, otherwise that genjustu would have broken his mind." _Oh I don't doubt that, but Sensei-_

"What does that do to you?" Toku points at Sensei's shadow, still abnormally dark and miserable. "It's already made you cough up blood, are you going to give it to something, put it back, do something to it..." Toku trails off. "Can you even give it back without breaking Ita-kun?"

Sensei closes his eyes. "I'll be fine." We are not convinced, but Sensei is clearly unwilling to tell us more.

* * *

"Hey! Let me down, un!" My eyes snap open. _Deidara-kun?_ "I want to talk to Leafy, and you can't stop me, un!" There's the sound of a clatter and a crash and I climb to my feet, pins and needles shooting through my arms. "I'm the student of the Tsuchikage, un!"

I throw open the tent flap. There's ANBU Hound with his tanto unsheathed and pointed at a cowering Deidara...I see red.

"And what do you think you're doing, _Hound-san_?" I ask, my hands sliding towards my weapons pouch.

Hound inclines his-stupid, spiky, silver-head in my direction, but says not a word.

"He's just a child! Why are you pointing an unsheathed blade in his direction?" I screech at him and walk over to the still sniveling Deidara. "Deidara-kun? Are you alright?"

He buries his face in my shoulder. "Leafy." He mumbles. "He wouldn't let me in to talk to you, and you'll leave soon, un."

I glance over at Kakashi, but there is no reading that porcelain mask for his thoughts. I turn and tromp back into the tent with Deidara. "Well, now you're here, on the inside where everyone else is." I'm attempting to be cheerful, but Itachi's still not awake, Sensei's sleeping off whatever he'd done to his _soul_ of all things, and Toku is nowhere to be found.

"Were you crying, Cousin Hana, un?" Deidara brushes his small fingers against my face. "Your eyes are red and puffy." Had I been crying in my sleep when I couldn't cry while awake?

"I don't know, Deidara-kun." I tell him as I set him down. "I was asleep, un."

He frowns at me and jerks his head towards Itachi. "Is it because of him?"

"He's a part of it." I thread my fingers through his sunny hair. "But we're not here to talk about Ita-kun, right?"

Deidara shakes his head. He reaches into the bag that he'd been carrying. "I wanted to show you my spiders, un." He thrusts his hands forwards. "I made three better ones for you, un." And there they are, three clay spiders sculpted with a child's clumsy hands.

"They're very cute, Dei-kun." I reach over to ruffle his hair, and smile for the first time in a long time. "I'm glad you made them better this time." I take them and hold them up to the light, admiring their perfect whiteness.

Before I could slip them into my pouch he climbs onto my lap and wraps his arms around my neck. "They'll explode too, if you say katsu and add chakra." He whispers. "You're my cousin, un." _He believes it without me telling him?_ He laughs a little without looking up at my face. "I'm glad it's you, Cousin Hana."

I poke his cheek. "Why are you giving a foreign shinobi explosive weapons, Dei-kun?"

He pulls back and looks at me with those big blue-gray eyes, the perfect picture of childlike innocence. "M not giving any foreign shinobi anything, un." He leans in to whisper in my ear. "I'm giving Cousin Hana a present." He frowns. "Can't teach you how to make them, un." He mumbles. "But you're _cousin,_ should know how." And his family loyalty is touching. _He's only known me for a month or so, and he's saved both my life and Itachi's during the last exam._

 _Now, he's giving me the secrets of Iwa's Explosion Release. If word gets out it'll land him in Torture and Interrogation, and I don't think Iwa has compunctions about torturing a little boy._

I run a hand through his hair. "Remember that I like you, Dei-kun." I pull him close. "Don't ever tell anyone what you did today, un." _You have to stay loyal to Iwa, Dei-kun. You can't go running off into the big blue, that's how they'll get you killed._ "And never stop being nice."

He nods, and we break apart. "I'll never forget you, un." He whispers, and wraps my fingers tightly around his little misshapen spiders. "I love you, Cousin Hana." He flushes, and his eyes fill with tears. He takes one long look at me, traces a hand down the fangs on my cheeks and then the hitai-ate that I wear about my neck. Then he runs out of the tent.

I feel tears slide down my cheeks as I put his little spiders away. _I'm sorry I can't help you more, Dei-kun._

* * *

Itachi wakes up the next morning. "Hana?" He whispers.

I'm by his bedside in an instant. "Ita-kun?"

His hands are no longer cold when he looks up at me. "I'm sorry, I killed you." He whispers. "I'm sorry."

"Wh-" _Do outsiders even know what the Mangekyo is?_ "What happened out there, Ita-kun?" _I can't ask him, can I? No one knows what the Mangekyo is._

Itachi turns his face away. "It's a clan secret, Hana-chan." _That's-oh thank Kami I didn't ask him why me._ "I'll tell you later." He promises.

But now the question is burning to pass my lips. _Why me, Ita-kun? Aren't there other friends that you love more?_ I am not prideful enough to have believed before that I am his best friend. We are friends, born of long acquaintance and we lived and nearly died together, but I didn't know why he loved me more than everyone.

 _What is it about me, Ita-kun? What did I do, that canon Hana did not?_

Toku pulls over a chair. "We have a problem."

Itachi blinks. "We do?" _Idiot. We have so many problems that it's about to drown us._ I shove the thought away. _He's been out for a day and a half. He doesn't know half of what went down._

"What do you remember?" Toku asks, and props his head up with his hands.

"I was fighting...and then..." He trails off. "There was a...genjustu, I killed." He shudders. "I killed Hana again...and then my eyes started bleeding." _Well that's an easy way to avoid the topic of Mangekyo. My eyes started bleeding. No reason, they just do that sometimes._ "And Sensei?" Itachi focuses back on us. "What happened to Sensei?"

He sits up, and Toku and I both move to restrain him. "No, don't do that!" We say, simultaneously.

"Alright." Toku sits back down heavily after we persuade Itachi to lie back down. "We have many problems." He gestures towards the other hospital bed. "Not the least of which is whatever Sensei did, 'cause he's still not awake yet."

"Sensei?" Itachi sighs. "I was screaming...and he did something, and I felt more numbed." _Is that what it feels like to have negative energy subtracted?_

 _What then, does it feel like, to have negative energy gained?_ Unbidden, Sensei's shaking shoulders as he coughs returns to my memory. _We do not deserve you, Sensei._

"According to Sensei-although what he said didn't make much sense at all-" Toku mutters the aside in a cross tone, and then continues. "He took your negative energy and added it to his shadow."

"What does that mean?" Itachi's eyebrows draw together as he tries to figure out what has happened.

"We don't know." I state. "He coughed up a bunch of blood afterwards, went to sleep and hasn't woken up since." Seeing the rising alarm on Itachi's face I rush to reassure him. "But he's not dying or in danger of dying it doesn't seem like. He's just asleep." Sensei's breathing is deep and slow, calm and relaxed. There were no tense muscles in his body. He is just...asleep. Not waking up.

"Hokage-sama?" Itachi asks at last. He doesn't believe us about Sensei. To be honest, we don't believe ourselves, so he's perfectly justified.

"Has not visited us since Sensei yelled at him." Toku promptly responds.

Itachi looks increasingly more alarmed with each new factoid.

Toku and I exchange a glance. "Maybe we shouldn't tell him any of this." I suggest.

Toku frowns. "But that would make him worry more, Hana-chan." But the deal is on. There are no more discussions regarding a possible international incident, or Sensei's condition.

* * *

We talk some more, catching Itachi up on various other details-he'd won the tournament, we knew nothing about promotions, and there'd been something or other going on yesterday, but who knows.

While we are talking, Sensei decides to wake up. "Ducklings?"

His throat rasps and I pour him a cup of water as Toku races over. "Sensei?"

Sensei's shadow is still darker than normal when he raises a hand to pat Toku on the shoulder, but it's fading, less miserably dark than before. _What did Sensei do while he was sleeping?_

 _Was he even sleeping?_

"Stop looking so worried." Sensei mutters as he takes the water. "How's Itachi-kun?"

"I'm alright, Sensei." Itachi pushes himself out of bed and heads over to crowd with Toku and I around Sensei's bed instead. "Thank you, Sensei." He bows, wobbly and uncertain, so Toku and I support him. _If this is the way that he shows how much he appreciates Sensei, we won't protest._

Sensei himself looks kind of awkward, a dark flush spreading up his neck. "Think nothing of it, Itachi-kun."

"It wasn't nothing though." We protest. "It was your _soul._ "

Sensei glances around. "Don't go around spreading the fact that I used a kinjutsu like it's a daily occurrence, ducklings. The Vicious Hag would have my head if she heard about it before we got home." _Kinjutsu? Sensei's-oh yeah. He played around with people's souls. I'm fairly certain that's a forbidden technique._

We very carefully choose a safe topic, such as who we believe will be promoted, the conclusion: none of us. The third exam had exploded. Literally and metaphorically. There's no way any of this would end well.

"Nara-san?" ANBU Bear pokes his head around the tent flap. "Now that you are out of your meditation, Hokage-sama wants Team Ensui to meet to discuss promotions." _Oh. So Sensei wasn't sleeping._

We look at each other. "Well." Toku says at last. "That means that someone is going to be promoted. Good luck everyone."

We converge on Sensei as he attempts to get up by himself. Sensei protests, but we are insistent that he lean on at least one of us. _Come now Sensei, you should know better by now._

 _We love you as much as you love us._

* * *

Sensei finally relents and uses my shoulder as a crutch as we hobble out of our makeshift shelter and towards the building where the Hokage has set up residence the past few days.

We get quite a few glances, but no one approaches as ANBU Bear leads the way.

Finally, we make it to the Hokage's office. Toku raps on the door, with an anxious glance at Sensei. "Come in." The Hokage sighs. "All of you."

We enter. "I hear you're promoting at least one of my students." Sensei drawls, but the effect is incomplete given that he's still leaning heavily against over my shoulder instead of standing by himself slouched with his hands in his pockets.

"It's good to see that you remain in the land of the living." The Hokage comments mildly before turning to us. "Inuzuka Hana."

I shift Sensei's hands to Toku's shoulders and glare at him until he accepts before I step forward. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"You once stood before me, this time last year. You were not promoted then, do you know why?" _How could I forget, Hokage-sama?_

"I made atrocious plans that would have gotten my teammates killed." I reply.

The Hokage's eyes widen, but he continues. "And this time, you put the lives of your teammates over promotion when you suggested that you forfeit to give Uchiha-kun a better chance against his next opponent." He steeples his hands in front of him on the desk. _So, what's the verdict?_ "We should welcome our newest chunin." He picks a flak jacket off of the table. "Congratulations, Inuzuka-chan."

I step forward, and accept the jacket with shaking hands. _I passed?_ "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

"Hyuga Tokuma."

Toku steps forward and moves Sensei's hands back to my shoulders even as I step back mechanically. "Hokage-sama?" He asks.

"You did not make it to the final exam the last time you took the exams." The Hokage exhales a cloud of smoke. "You were blinded by the conflict between your teammates."

"There were no conflicts between us this time." Toku stands, tall and proud. "I do not complain about last time."

"And you express the true measure of a chunin with that statement." The Hokage hands him a flak jacket. Toku's hands are also trembling as he accepts. "Congratulations, Hyuga-kun."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama."

The Sandaime turns to Itachi. "Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi steps forward, his step unsteady. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"This is your first exam. You worked well with your teammates, and demonstrated considerable skill to make it to the final round of the third exam." The Hokage picks up his pipe and twirls it around his fingers. "While you did overexert yourself during the third exam, such a blunder can be remedied easily."

"Hokage-sama." Itachi looks down at his feet. "I do not believe I should be promoted."

"And that is why you ultimately demonstrate the qualities of a chunin." The Hokage counters. "You care deeply for your teammates, and while you let it rule you during your time under the genjutsu, you will not make the same mistake again." He picks up the last flak jacket. "Congratulations, Uchiha-kun."

Itachi takes the flak jacket and steps back to stand with us.

"Well," Sensei drawls, still leaning against me. "This is the first time an entire team has been promoted since the legendary Sannin." He casts a wry glance over us. "What should we call you three, my uncute minions?"

"We were cute just yesterday, Sensei." Itachi looks up at Sensei with mock pain in his eyes. "In fact, we were all cute until not ten minutes ago."

Toku leans forwards to whisper loudly at Itachi. "It's just because we got promoted. We're nearly at Sensei's level now, so he's really confused about us."

I don't lean forward, Sensei's still depending on me to keep him upright, but I do laugh. "Careful Sensei, we'll be the youngest promotions to Jonin in forever too, and then you won't be able to call us students anymore."

"Oh you bratty Sprout." Sensei sighs. "What am I supposed to do with you?"

"Wait." Toku seems to have suddenly come to an epiphany. "This means that we never have to take the chunin exams again."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Indeed it does."

"Do you know what that means?" Toku looks at me very carefully. "It means that we never have to come near another chunin exams again."

Itachi huffs. "Yes, I do believe that's what it means to pass, Toku-kun."

"We never have to do this again!" Toku cheers and breaks into a dance around the room. "I never have to listen to another stupid proctor tell me about another stupid test that we might die in."

 _No...we don't._

Itachi must have come to the same realization, because he's laughing, and I'm laughing, and even Sensei's got a smile on his face though it doesn't quite reach his eyes.

* * *

Our journey home is with the Hokage's personal guard. Kakashi and ANBU Hound have been studiously avoiding me the entire way. _Is he still angry at me because I yelled at him about Dei-kun?_

The thought of Deidara has me touch my hip pouch again. His spiders were still there, the last proof of his love I had on my person besides our similar noses.

 _I'm not sorry. He shouldn't have drawn a live weapon on a child._

It's hypocritical. Kakashi had killed people himself at Deidara's age. I had killed my first person by Deidara's age. Deidara himself has probably killed someone given how volatile his kekkei genkai is.

But I still couldn't accept it. _He's not a bad kid, and he wasn't endangering anyone about it. I'm not sorry._

* * *

"I'm home!" I announce as I drop my pack down at the doorway. There is no Kiba to greet me. I turn around a full circle, and then pad down the hallway. "Kiba-chan? Where are you?"

There's no reply, and only Kaa-san blearily pads out into the mid day sun. "Kiba's out, Hana-chan." She spies my new wardrobe addition, and grins. "You got promoted this time?"

I glance around. "Do you see any other daughters of yours around with a chunin flak jacket?"

I'm swept up into Kaa-san's arms a moment later. "I always knew you could do it, Little Nose."

We laugh and spin around in the hallway, happy, happy at last after such a long time. _Kaa-san looks tired. Has she been losing sleep over the exams in Iwa?_

"Now what's this I hear about Kiba-chan being out?" _Where would Kiba go anyway? He doesn't really leave the clan compound, the house or the kennels all that much unless he wants candy._

"Oh, he made a new friend." Kaa-san waves a hand airily in the direction of the Naka River. "He's out and about with that boy all the time now."

 _Kiba made a friend? Who? What?_

"He did?" I blink. Kiba's a friendly kid, but he had a serious Nee-chan adoration problem. Most children did not sit still long enough listen to his grandiose descriptions of what I could and could do. (There's nothing Kiba thinks that I couldn't do, so that isn't a list.)

"Yeah." Kaa-san pushes me into the kitchen. "He comes over every day."

 _Oh that's even more strange. Kiba-chan gets bored rather easily._

"I'm home!" I hear two sets of small feet race down the hallway.

My little brother appears in the doorway. "Kiba-chan?" I ask, and hold out my arms. _I've been away for so long._

"NEE-CHAN!" He takes a flying tackle leap towards me and we crash onto the floorboards. "You're back!" We roll around on the floor and towards another chair, but Kaa-san kicks it out of the way just in time.

"Yes! I am!" _Oh I've missed you, Otouto._ He makes it a personal mission to sit on my chest, and I let him do it, too elated to care. "Now tell me, who's this friend of yours?"

Kiba shrugs artlessly. "Oh. It's Sasuke." He points towards the kitchen door. "Hey, hey, Sasuke. Nee-chan got promoted!" He hollers as I turn to look at the boy in the doorway. _Yup. That's indeed Itachi's foolish little brother._

Sasuke pads through the door, bows to Kaa-san. "Hello, Inuzuka-san." And walks towards Kiba, a small smile on his face. "Well, I'm sure Niisan got promoted too, so there."

Kiba laughs. "But we know Nee-chan got promoted first." _They're actually being friendly. What._ With that, he's pulling Sasuke down the hallway. "Come on, we have to go down to the kennels to see the new puppies."

Sasuke's dragged out the door and into the afternoon sunlight. "Sorry, Hana-san!" He calls over his shoulder as my brother tows him towards the kennels.

"No problem, Sasuke-chan." I call weakly back at him. _Kiba and Sasuke? Friends? But the last time I checked, Kiba was still calling Sasuke 'Stupid Sasuke.' When did it change?_

"You look like you missed the end of the world, Little Nose." Kaa-san offers me a hand and peels me off the floor. "Kiba has to grow up and make friends sometime."

"No." And I'm truly not upset that Kiba's made a friend. "It's just...he and Sasuke seem to have always hated each other's guts."

Kaa-san laughs, her smile fanged and glistening in the sunlight. "People change, Hana-chan."

 _Hmm. It seems they do._

* * *

 **A.N.** I've had the Kiba and Sasuke are friends scene bouncing around in my head for a long time now. Not to mention, more Nara-sensei being protective/Papa Bear/ Awesome. He's one of my favorite characters to write to be honest. We said goodbye to Deidara, not permanently, but for quite a few more arcs. Hana has plenty to worry about inside Konoha for the time being. And still no Mangekyo explanations.

Well, can't have everything.

Thanks to rickrossed, WhiteFang001 (I agree. Itachi needs to emote a little more frequently. Hana doesn't even entirely realize that she's his best friend.), Missfroogy (Haha, well I don't think I could have spent two consecutive days writing fight scenes, it would be horrific to be honest, so everyone wins!), Alizay, (Dei is totally a sweetheart as a child. And Itachi is indeed suffering.), N1ghtdr34m3r (Not exactly what happened. But discoveries are around the corner.), Tatanka96 (Yeah, we see everything from Hana's perspective, so she's also confused because Itachi doesn't exactly emote much or often, but I'm glad you liked it!), XTakaX27 (Your review made me blush so hard. And yes, I do have a bit of dialogue/action tags problem. I've been trying to work on it, so getting feedback about how it reads is really important to me. Thank you!), May525, Manawasasa, and Sis for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed! All of you guys rock!

~Tavina.


	36. Team Leader Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I walk with Sasuke back to the Uchiha Compound for team dinner after Kiba bids him goodbye at the entrance of the kennels. Sasuke had agreed that the new puppies are the cutest. It's to be our last team dinner, for we'd go our separate ways tomorrow. Toku and I are announcing our intended specializations, and Itachi...I didn't know what Itachi would be doing Sensei...Sensei is supposed to go back to Crypt tomorrow, but he'd been weak and not entirely functioning when we'd walked him to his house earlier.

I am unsure of how to feel. _He doesn't want to tell us about what he did to his soul, but he'd promised to come to dinner._

"Hana-san?" Sasuke asks. "Is Niisan okay?" _Perceptive child. Did you notice your brother's difference?_ Itachi hadn't been entirely normal either, and I am sure, Sasuke who loved his brother so dearly would notice such a shift.

"Why do you think that, Sasuke-chan?" I ask, because perhaps he doesn't have solid suspicions and I could dispel his doubts the same way that a Futon jutsu could dispel wood smoke.

"Niisan's strange." He tells me, his dark eyes huge against the backdrop of his face. "He should be happy he got promoted, right?" _Well. I can't tell you about what happened really._

I smooth down the ends of his hair. _Little duck tailed boy, why must you be so persistent?_ "The Chunin Exams were in Iwa." I say carefully. "And your Niisan is concerned because he killed someone." _He killed me to be precise, but there's no need to traumatize you._

Sasuke frowns. "But Niisan doesn't normally react to those sorts of things." Itachi...did react, he felt death as painfully as and probably more than most shinobi in the forces. But he probably didn't normally let Sasuke see such things. _For him to have slipped in front of his precious Otouto..._ I shake my head to clear the thoughts like cobwebs away from the current moment.

"All death impacts us, big or small." I tell him at last as we step through the gates of the Uchiha District. "And your Niisan is no different. Give him time." _At least I hope time will dull the edge of his pain._

 _If not, he will learn to hide it better from Sasuke, so Sasuke can stop worrying at least just a little._

Sasuke is unconvinced. "Why aren't you upset then? Didn't you kill anyone?" _What do you think I am?_

"You don't know me as well." I say gently, a hand on his shoulder. "And I'd thank you not to ask if I killed anyone." _Your brother. Toku. I killed them both._

 _I slit the throat of two defenseless, but still reprehensible men not two hours away from here. I ripped out a girl's throat at a very public event this time last year. I am not blameless. I have bloody hands._

Sasuke is quiet as we enter his house.

* * *

I find Fugaku-san in his study before dinner. Toku and Sensei have yet to arrive, and when I'd asked about Itachi, Mikoto-san had frowned and said he was still at the training field.

"Fugaku-san?" I step past the doorway, and hold the flowers in front of me like a shield. _Do you blame me for what happened to your son?_ Perhaps awakening the Mangekyo is an event acknowledged as a gain, but it doesn't feel right to celebrate the occasion. Thus, I had chosen the bouquet very carefully this time.

"And are you willing to tell me what those mean?" Fugaku-san raises his eyes from his papers to glance at me. He's looking at my proffered flowers with what might be disapproval, or it might simply be interest.

I don't have a clue. "Daffodils for respect." I say, sliding the bright yellow flowers into the vase at the edge of his desk. "White anemones for sincerity." The little white flowers go into the vase as well. "And bluebells for thankfulness."

He stops me from putting those in the vase. "Why?"

 _Why am I thankful?_ "No one died." I say. "I am thankful that we are all still alive."

He slides the bluebells into the vase himself. "A good choice." He says and scrutinizes my face for something. "Itachi has gained the next stage of his sharingan." He says at last.

 _Eh. Fugaku-san is handing out clan secrets? Is the sky falling?_

"I see." I say, because if not, what else do I say? _Excuse me, Fugaku-san, can you enlighten me as to why your son gained the Mangekyo, which happens when one kills one's best friend, because he thought he killed me?_

"You have questions." Fugaku-san folds his hands together and sets them on his desk. His eyes briefly glance at my flowers. "Ask."

"Is Itachi going to be okay?" Fugaku-san's face is still a mask of stone plated nothing, and it makes me very uncomfortable so the next words just jump out of my mouth with no warnings or understanding whatsoever. "I mean, his eyes started bleeding and then Sensei had to-" I don't finish that thought. I do have some measure of self preservation. "And then he's been weird all the way home." I finish, and stare at my feet because dear Kami. I messed up again.

Fugaku-san sets a finger under my chin and tilts my head back up so I'm again, looking at his face instead of the ground. "Itachi shall be fine." His eyes flicker over my face. "He cares for you a good deal."

"Why?" I ask, and immediately feel incredibly small and silly.

The corners of Fugaku-san's mouth tightens just a little. _Is he about to smile or about to frown? Why can't I tell? Why has no one written a manual about how to read facial expressions off of this man?_ "You are a unique individual." _That tells me nothing._ Fugaku-san rises and heads towards the door. "He will explain."

* * *

Both Sensei and Kiho-baachan show up for dinner. I suspect it is not because Kiho-baachan wanted to show up at dinner with the Uchihas, but more to the point that Sensei is still having a hard time existing as a semi decent human being without a human cane of some sort.

Fugaku-san and I are watching, perhaps we are hiding, behind the door.

He's not leaning heavily on her shoulder, but she's still very subtly preventing him from tipping over. "Oh, Mikoto-san!" Kiho-baachan's smile could light the world on fire, it's so abnormally irritable. "It's so good to see you."

Mikoto-san's answering smile is equally sharp. "Indeed, Kiho-chan. How lovely is it that we meet again." _Do these two women have a history or something?_

"Darling." Sensei drawls. "Leave the claws outside please."

Kiho-baachan turns to him with a smile so poisonous that even Sensei almost flinches. "I will never forgive the woman that slandered Kai-kun." _Mikoto-san once said something bad about Tou-san?_

I'm not entirely surprised about this, but it does hurt a little.

"And I said that if you couldn't forgive it, you shouldn't come." Sensei spares her a particularly jaundiced glance. "My dear, the past is over." He meets Mikoto-san's eyes with that same dead tired look. "If we are unwelcome we will turn around and leave." _Even though he claims the past is over, he doesn't actually believe it._

Kiho-baachan's hand strays towards his chest. "Breathe, Ensui." _That is the first time that I've heard Kiho-baachan call Sensei by his actual name._

Sensei's eyes slide closed, and he looks bruised.

"No." Mikoto-san steps back to let them in. "You are perfectly welcome, Nara-san."

"We." Sensei murmurs. "We cannot be half of a whole." If Sensei isn't so strange right now, I would have called his statement romantic. As it is, it hints of something lurking deep inside his shadow, down to the depths of his mind.

"You both are welcome." Fugaku-san's striding into the room.

Mikoto-san turns towards him, a question in her eyes. I do not get to see how he answers her, but she does turn back to smile more politely at Sensei and Kiho-baachan. "Do come in, Nara-san, Kiho-san."

* * *

"And what is it that you want to specialize in, Toku-kun?" Mikoto-san smiles warmly at my Hyuga teammate who's gorging himself on food like there's no tomorrow.

"I'm joining Infiltration." Toku answers after he's finished chewing. "Under Kiho-baachan as her apprentice hopefully." He beams as though the room hadn't suddenly chilled just a little. "Hey Hana-chan, are you going to join the Tracking Division with Mu-kun?"

"I believe." Fugaku-san intercedes, the first time he's spoken since we sat down at the dinner table. "That Inuzuka-chan intended to join the Military Police."

Toku turns to me with a question in his eyes. "Really? You never said anything about it before."

"You never really asked before." I answer. "But it is my intention to apply." _And it seems that Fugaku-san is predisposed to accept me now that he's said that I intend to join at public dinner._

Toku nods. "Well, you didn't ever say anything about your dreams after you become chunin during academy or afterwards." He grins at me. "Just think, we'll have one tracking specialist, one infiltration specialist, one police officer and one in ANBU by the time we're done."

"Actually." Sensei mutters. "I have something to say about the ANBU part of that."

All eyes swivel over to him. "I always believed that Itachi would make a great ANBU officer." Mikoto-san counters mildly. "He's always been very talented."

"ANBU will rip your kind hearted son to shreds." Sensei comments flatly. "It doesn't swallow you whole like the normal forces. It rips you and shatters you to pieces."

"It has always been Itachi's dream to be in ANBU." Fugaku-san sets his rice bowl down. "Sasuke. It's past your bed time."

Sasuke looks around the table worriedly, especially at Itachi whose head is still bowed over his bowl of rice, bangs falling forwards. _He doesn't look so great._ But Sasuke is still very obedient despite spending so much time with my little brother. He gets up and goes.

"And I'm telling you that I want him as my apprentice in Crypt instead." Sensei's still gently suggesting it, but there's an undercurrent of steel in his voice.

"Are you trying to prevent my son from becoming his full potential?" Mikoto-san's chopsticks clatter loudly onto the table. "Is this how you use our trust?"

"If it weren't for Ensui you wouldn't have a son anymore." Kiho-baachan leaps up and glares at Mikoto-san from across the table. "Do you know what he did to make sure that Ita-kun stayed safe? Do you understand what he's given up?" Her face is twisted with anger and pain. "You don't have any respect for others. You're still exactly the same as you were back then."

"Kiho-baachan." Itachi sighs. "It is my fault that I did not tell them." He raises his head for the first time since we'd sat down to dinner. "Please don't be angry."

Kiho-baachan deflates. "It's not your fault duckling. What the stupid Waste of Space did was his choice and he made it. It is not to do with you." She squishes his cheeks together. "You just concentrate on getting better, alright?"

"Sensei." Toku sets his bowl down as well. "What does that kinjutsu do to you?"

Mikoto-san gasps. "Kinjutsu?"

Toku meets her eyes without a shred of sympathy. "Sensei siphoned Ita-kun's negative energy after Ita-kun collapsed during the third exam in Iwa." He frowns at Sensei. "Now tell us what's going to happen to you."

Sensei's eyes are closed. "I am an invalid at the moment." I'd figured so, but he said at the moment.

"How long, Sensei?" I ask, my tongue sticking to my throat. "How long?" _Please don't say forever, Sensei. Please._

"A year." He sighs. "Maybe two." He reaches out and ruffles my hair with a rueful smile. "I'm not as young as I used to be. But don't you worry, Sprout. I'll be fine in the end." _Two years. Maybe more._

 _Sensei won't be able to fight for two years?_

A pit opens in my stomach. _That's what he gave up for this technique?_

The silence at the table is total, until Itachi draws in a long breath. "I wish to be Sensei's apprentice, Tou-san."

Fugaku-san inclines his head. "A year."

Itachi frowns, the first expression he's made tonight. "Two."

"One and a half." Fugaku-san counters.

"Two." Itachi insists. "Two."

"You will explain to the clan." Fugaku-san nods once. "Two years."

And Itachi has avoided entering ANBU for another two years under his own power.

* * *

Sensei, Kiho-baachan and Toku leave shortly after the fallout at the dinner table, and only I remain. Itachi rises and heads outside to sit on the porch, and I also rise to follow him, but Fugaku-san stops me. "A moment, Inuzuka-chan."

I turn to look up at him, a hand fidgeting against my new flack jacket. "Yes?"

"Give your application a year before turning one in." Fugaku-san inclines his head towards me. "I did not expect your promotion so quickly." _What does that have to do with anything?_ "The clan would resist." He clarifies.

 _Is he catching on that I don't understand him? He's going to use a year to make sure I get in?_

 _For me?_

I flush, and bow more than ninety degrees at him. "Thank you very much, Fugaku-san."

"Hn." He pulls me up by the shoulder. "Speak to Itachi." He orders, and then he is plodding off, back to his study. In the gloomy light of the lanterns, his shoulders look stooped and tired.

* * *

"Hello, Ita-kun." I whisper as I sit down next to him on the swing on the porch.

He glances at me briefly. "Hello Hana."

"Your Tou-san said you gained the next level of the sharingan." I stop there, not sure of how to continue. I do not want to push.

"Yes." Itachi murmurs. "The Mangekyo." We sit in silence for a long time before he opens his mouth to speak again. "It activates when an Uchiha with an active sharingan witnesses the death of someone...dearest to them."

 _Dearest._ _He did not say best friend. Does it mean the same to him?_

"You burned." Itachi whispers, and his head comes to rest on my shoulder. "You'd drawn a kunai, and it was reflex." I could picture the scene in my mind's eye. Toku and I walking into the room. He'd known something was wrong, but he'd held off until we drew live weapons.

"I did not burn." I say, because I truly did not burn. I wasn't even there. It feels like an awful greasy lie, that he should have to suffer, that Sensei should have to suffer just because of the death of a mud clone.

"You screamed." Itachi trembles. "It sounded like you." _I should let him talk. He needs to talk about this with someone._ "They hurt then." He brushes a hand over his eyes. "But they didn't bleed."

"Then.." _Then it wasn't me after all._

"During the third exam." Itachi murmurs a hand playing with his long hair. "The genjustu. You burned again." _Twice? The genjutsu was already messing with his head. It's not implausible that a good friend being burned to death twice would do the trick._ "But I heard your voice. You wouldn't stop screaming." He shudders. "It must be morbid for you."

I card my fingers through his long bangs. "No." _You're my teammate. My brother. How could I deny you the chance to talk?_ "I am just confused." I mutter.

"Confused?"

"I did not realize that I was dear to you." I do not say dearest. It implies something else that he doesn't mean.

Itachi sits up, his eyes dark and his face pale in the moonlight. "You are very dear to me, Hana." He closes his eyes. "You were the first friend I made that was not an Uchiha."

"I didn't like you very much then." I correct him. "There was tolerance."

"You're misremembering." Itachi takes me by the shoulders, and turns me so I face the moon. "You saved my life, even if you didn't like me very much." _The Kyubi. That one night we spent in the shelter._ "You're Tou-san's favorite. Everyone who meets you likes you somehow." His head's resting on my shoulder again. "You were so interesting."

"Am I not interesting anymore?" I chide gently.

"You are an onion." He laughs, as dry as desert wind, but it's still a laugh. "Every time I think I know you, you're different again. Every time I cut another onion I think I won't cry, but I cry again."

I can't help it, the giggles burst out of me, a cascade of hysteria and warmth. "I can't imagine you cutting onions, Ita-kun."

And he chuckles too. "Well, I can't see you with a cat either, Hana-chan." _A cat?_ I ponder, and the concept of a cat seems far removed from me. _Why would I want a cat when I have the Triplets?_

* * *

I'm walking down the street a week afterwards when I am pulled into an alleyway and then dragged into a bar. _What?_ I'm dropped rather unceremoniously like a sack of meal onto a bar stool.

"You've been avoiding me, Hana-chan." Kakashi's face is very close to mine, and I resist the urge to scream.

"You're the one that's been avoiding me, Kakashi-san!" I throw up my hands. "You didn't want to talk all the way back from Iwa. Why are you so concerned about my life now?"

"Are you entering Tracking?" The question is completely out of left field.

"No?" I state, and suddenly Kakashi's halfway to the door. I scramble after him. "Wait!"

He doesn't wait, but neither does he shushin away like I know he could. _Clearly, he's still in the mood to humor me._

"What did you want, Hana-chan?" He sounds bland again. Blander than green tea toothpaste. Blander than plain boiled noodles without even a pinch of salt.

"I'll make you food?" I ask. _I'm sure he can make himself food better than me, but he seems to enjoy having food made for him._

 _He enjoys having food made for him._ The thought strikes me like a lightning bolt. _He hasn't had anyone make food specifically for him since his team was wiped out, maybe even earlier._

Suddenly offering to make him food seems more like offering him a home.

He sighs. "No need for that Hana-chan." _Well, in for a penny, in for a pound. I've offered once._

 _I'll do it again._ "It's not a need, Kakashi-san." I reply, and finally catch up to him. "It's a wish."

* * *

We end up sitting in his apartment again, and I boil plain noodles and cook tomatoes and eggs on the side.

There's no need to visit the grocery store. I check his refrigerator first, and then his pantry. Both are fully stocked.

He pulls the mask down when I set the two things in front of him.

He pulls it down without seemingly a second thought. I sit on the other side of the table. He'd acquired a second, mismatched chair from someplace, and it's a sign that he's had more company since the last time I'd been around.

"You have no comments?" He asks after he replaces the mask.

"What am I commenting on?" I ask him, an eyebrow raised. "How you got a scar on your face? Why you don't have a harelip or buck teeth?" _Honestly._ "Am I supposed to tell you that your face is decidedly symmetrical?"

He eye smiles at me. "Decidedly symmetrical?"

"Symmetrical faces are more trustworthy and generally considered pretty." I parrot at him. "The human brain recognizes symmetry as a pleasing element." _I shouldn't tell Kakashi this. He's a troll._

His shoulders shake from the force of his silent laughter. "Generally considered pretty? Pleasing element?" He gasps. "You're too funny, Hana-chan."

I cross my arms and frown at him. "It's not nice to fish for compliments, Kakashi-san." But then the real reason why I'm here resurfaces. "I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"You shouldn't have." And his eye smile is once more, a hundred percent plastic. "But I forgive you."

"No you don't." I jab a finger in the direction of his one visible eye. "You only eye smile like you're plastic when you really aren't forgiving me."

"I'm attempting to forgive you." He amends.

"Much better." I stand up and make for the door. "Next time, don't drag a poor under aged chunin into a bar."

* * *

 **A.N.** And thus, we have finally, Mangekyo explanations, Sensei's problems revealed, and Kakashi, a weird amount of troll!Kakashi. I swear he takes up so much space in this story and he wasn't even supposed to be an important character when I was planning these scenes, but he's becoming more important.

He grew a mind of his own, demanded to appear in more scenes and became an angsty person who's scenes have layers. It's so weird.

Thanks to WhiteFang001 (Yes, Nara-sensei will continue to appear. He will continue to have weight. I'm really fond of him.), Estarc (Welcome to Bloodless! I'm glad to hear about your feedback, and yeah, I wish Tsume made it into the text more often, but it's difficult at times when the plot's moving. Hana thinks of her mother as her rock and her home though. She's very important. She just doesn't appear so often.), Alizay (Yes, Hana's important to the Itachi of this universe, which is rapidly sliding into a weird sort of alternate universe. As for what role she'll play for him, we will continue forward and see.) and Thorn98biter (Thank you so much. I'm glad you like it!) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed! You all are fantastic.

~Tavina.


	37. Team Leader Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: Naruto is the property of Kishimoto.**

* * *

Kakashi, disturbing as it is, follows me out the door. For about two blocks, I ignore him in an attempt to get him to go away. He doesn't though, just shadows me with one hand in his pockets and another holding a lurid orange book. _This is the first time I've noticed him reading Icha Icha._

"Will you quit following me?" I turn around to glare at him.

He eye smiles at me. "I'm not following you Hana-chan. You're just walking in front of me." _I could learn to hate his sing song._

 _I really could._ "Just so you know, as soon as we get back to the Inuzuka Clan grounds you're liable to be assaulted." Kaa-san...did not like him much. And by didn't like him much, I mean seems to have developed a universal disapproval for every aspect of his existence, including breathing the same air as him. _I don't think him reading soft core pornography in the district is really the best way to improve his social standing._

He shrugs. "We'll burn that bridge when we get to it, Hana-chan!"

"I think you mean." And here I have to take a deep breath so I don't scream with frustration. "You'll either cross that bridge when you get to it, in which you resolve to face my Kaa-san. Or, you'll burn your bridges, which given that they're already burning, means very little to begin with."

"No, Hana-chan." Kakashi peers at me with his single eye over the edge of his- _so obnoxiously orange-_ book. "I mean I'll burn that bridge when I get to it."

 _Keep calm. Keep calm. Keep. Calm._

Very deliberately I turn around, and begin walking in the direction of home. "Well, it's your funeral." I mutter under my breath. "Idiot scarecrow of stupid degrees of stupid."

* * *

"I'm home!" I call out as I step over the threshold. I slip off my sandals, and set them near the door, and glare at Kakashi until he does the same.

Cousin Ashi appears from beyond the doorway. "Oh, welcome home, Hana-chan." She trails off as she notices who is with me. "Tsume-baasan has standing orders to throw you out should you be found within the clan compound, Hatake-san."

Kakashi shrugs. "Well, I haven't been thrown out yet.

Cousin Ashi frowns, and I grab his elbow and tow him down the hall past her. "He's an invited guest, Cousin Ashi!" I smile awkwardly as we pass her. "Nothing to see here."

It's only after we hurry down the hallway that I realize I have no idea where I'm supposed to take Kakashi. _I mean, this isn't like last time, when he was drunk out of his mind and couldn't even distinguish between people in his head._

 _Where are we supposed to go?_ I straighten my shoulders. "Well, no help for it then." I mutter, and slide open my door.

My sheets are a crumpled heap at the foot of my bed. There are at least three books on earth jutsu balanced in a precarious stack on my desk. Tou-san's meticulous notes regarding chakra control are scattered all over the floor, and I scoop them up and shove them into a desk drawer. My walls are covered with pages of Kiba's childish scrawl, and I am not ashamed that someone else has seen them.

An array of kunai, explosive tags, shuriken, and soldier pills are piled at one end of the low table by the door. My whetstone is right beside them. A ripped and not yet repaired mesh shirt and stray wires, pliers, needles and thread take up most of the center of the table.

There's another mesh shirt thrown over the back of the only chair in my room. And of course, there's dog hair everywhere, considering that the Triplets, Kimaru, and Kuromaru came and went almost constantly.

I pull the stool out from under the table. "You can sit here, if you'd like."

Kakashi had been eyeing my room with something akin to interest. He looks like someone who'd expected to see normal London and just fallen down the rabbit hole into Wonderland to be honest. _A stranger in a strange land, in the inner sanctum of the Inuzuka Clan Compound._

"Whose pictures are those?" He asks as I flop back onto my bed.

"Kiba-chan's." I reply, and at his nonplussed expression I explain. "My darling otouto."

"Ah." Kakashi pulls out his book and begins to read again.

"Why are you here?" The fact that he's in my room would not deter Kaa-san from kicking down the door in the slightest.

"Well, you see, I was dragged in by an overeager puppy." Kakashi begins, and flips a page. "And that is why I am here instead of elsewhere." _An overeager puppy? Really?_

I sit up and walk over to my desk. "Well, you are always welcome to leave before Kaa-san kicks down my door to punt you across the village." He raises an eyebrow at me, and I smile. "Kaa-san doesn't like people who threaten her children, and you've held a kunai to my neck twice."

He winces, and puts the book away. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going down to the kennels." I shrug on the extra mesh shirt, and scoop up the bag of dog food by my door. "I hear we have puppies." And while they wouldn't be anything like the Triplets, I still had a duty to the Inuzuka dogs. If there were new puppies, I should at least welcome them into the pack.

He gets up and follows me again. "That's not what I meant, Hana-chan." He has a hand on my shoulder, and turns me around so that I'm facing him again.

"What did you mean then?" I won't run away from him in the sanctuary of my own home.

"What are you going to be doing, if you aren't joining Tracking?" _Is that what he meant?_

"I'm applying for the Military Police Force." I respond and shrug off his hand. "I have plenty of projects to accomplish before that." _Tou-san. I understand why you left me your research notes now._

Kakashi has now officially stopped following me. _Well, that's a relief. Kaa-san won't have to punt him now._

* * *

"Koma-senpai!" I run after the fading silhouette of a tall Hyuga in the lightening gloom. "Koma-senpai! Wait up!"

It's just a little before dawn, and the Triplets and I are out on our typical morning run, when we spot Koma-senpai.

He turns to me, fatigue in every line of his face, and for the first time I notice that he's in ANBU gear. _Well, that confirms it then. He's definitely ANBU._ "Yes, Hana-chan?"

I step closer to him, so that he can very easily lean against my shoulder if he would like to without any nosy civilians realizing the truth. Koma-senpai is prideful. Much like Toku there's no arrogance in him, but oh, he could be prouder and more immovable than the mountains. It is perhaps, what connects all Hyugas, that pride flame that in some manifests as arrogance, and in Hinata burned so weakly until pushed by the wind.

"Are you going to be at home today? I wanted to see if Toku was in." _I've lost track of his schedule already, and while it might be okay to visit Kiho-baachan to check, it wouldn't be nice to interrupt every time I wanted to see Toku._

 _Besides, I don't even know it Toku's training takes place at Sensei's house right now._

"No." Koma-senpai answers. "He is not, Hana-chan." We walk slowly and he does, from time to time, make use of my shoulder. The Triplets tag along behind, silent, watchful, and serious for once.

I do not ask him what's going on. There are drawn lines on his face that seem to speak of loss and agony. _He's failed in some way._

 _There's no need to rub it in._

* * *

I fill Muta in on what's happened with Sensei over tea at Mufu-an later that morning. He'd taken a day off as soon as he'd gotten back to Konoha. As I had expected, Hunting Missions often took the pursuers out on a goose chase for the longest of times.

"I heard that you made chunin." Muta opens with a gentle smile, seemingly having accepted his state of being. _He'd been so tortured the last time I saw him._

And I regret that I will have to again, open wounds in his heart. "Yeah." I sigh. "We all did."

"You do not seem pleased." Muta observes. He tilts his head to the side, and watches me with those golden eyes of his. "Why?"

"Ita-kun was put under a genjutsu that would break his mind." I state. "And Sensei used a kinjutsu to fix the problem."

Muta nods. "I heard from the rumor mill that something sparked out in Iwa." He frowns, the corners of his mouth pulling down only slightly. "I did not know the extent of the damage."

 _So he'd already been worried._ I lean in close. "You can't tell anyone about this."

"When would I?" He asks and glances up at the ceiling. "You and Toku are my best friends. Sensei is Sensei still."

And I suppose that's what team loyalty is. "Team Tan, huh." I whisper. "Well then, friend of mine." I rise and offer him a hand to pull him to his feet. "Let's go on a walk."

We make our way down the street, arm in arm as we'd never done before, but felt perfectly natural right now.

"Sensei can't use chakra right now." I whisper and point at a dango stand on the corner. "They've the best tea flavored dango, Mu-kun." I say a bit louder, pitching my voice so that the random passersby heard only a simple conversation. "Two years." I smile, even as I feel my heart break. "It's been like that for two years now, Mu-kun!"

He inclines his head in my direction. "That indeed sounds wonderful, Hana-chan." Only I could hear his distress. _I'm sorry I have to tell you like this Mu-kun. But it's understandable that Sensei doesn't want this to get out to the public right?_

It does not make me feel any better. "Do visit Sensei." I say at last. _He'll want to see you._ "He's missed you these few months when we were away."

Muta nods. "Of course, Hana-chan."

* * *

"Cousin Hana?" Cousin Gaku steps into the house, Byamaru at his side. "Might I speak to you?"

I look up at him, from where I'd been sitting on the floor with Kiba as he'd been explaining his sudden descent into friendship with Sasuke. "Well he's not all that bad you know, Neechan. He's just weird."

"Yes, of course, Cousin Gaku." I stand up, and brush the dust from my shorts. "Shall we walk down to the kennels?"

Kiba protests. "But Neechan, everyone knows that Cousin Gaku's _weird._ " My heart skips a beat.

"You aren't to say that." I frown at Kiba. "Cousin Gaku is very dear to me." _He'd brought me to the hospital to say goodbye to Tou-san. "_ He doesn't entirely remember many things anymore, but that's no way to speak about our cousin, Kiba."

Properly chastised, Kiba falls silent, and I offer my arm to Cousin Gaku. "Shall we go, Cousin?"

The corners of his mouth tilt up. "Yes." He agrees and we walk down the path towards the kennels.

I sit with the new puppies crawling over my lap. "You said that you wanted to speak to me?" I ask. He sits down as well, and the puppies back away from him.

"They-" He shakes his head. "Puppies used to-" He looks at me helplessly. "Puppies used to like me, right?"

I frown. "I don't know. You never came with me to the Kennels before."

His hand, which had still been outstretched towards the little wriggling balls of fur, returns to his side. "Do not join ANBU, Cousin Hana." He looks at me seriously. "Never." _Why is he so concerned about ANBU for me?_

"I did not plan to." And it is entirely true, that I would prefer to stay as far away from ANBU as I could possibly get.

He seems relieved, and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my left ear. "I am glad."

* * *

The next morning, I finish packing for the routine border patrol mission that lasts for a two week rotation. Most active duty chunin do end up taking at least three rotations of border patrol duty, unless they taught at the Academy or worked inside the Intel. I suspect that any Uchiha who regularly worked in the Military Police force also didn't go on border patrol.

"You're leaving again, Neechan?" Kiba sits, swinging his feet on my bed.

I pat him on the head. "Yes, unfortunately my number came up in the rotation, Kiba-chan." I tuck the extra soldier pills that he hands me into the front pocket of my pack. "I'm glad that you and Sasuke-chan are friends." I ruffle his hair. "Be good for Kaa-san, alright?"

He nods, very serious and wise with his wide brown eyes. "Of course, Neechan. I'm always good."

I laugh. "Sure, sure Kiba-chan."

He walks me to the edge of the clan compound, and I head off into dawn along with the Triplets to meet the members of the Genin Corps that I'd be leading on patrol. _There's supposed to be another chunin in the group, and 4 members of the Genin Corps. We'll be splitting into two groups at the fork in the Naka river, and travelling our border with Taki._

"Hello, Inuzuka-chan. We meet again." I look up to find Akimichi Chikai smiling at me. "I didn't get to speak to you much last time we talked."

"That's a bit of an understatement, Akimichi-chan." I respond with a nod to her flak jacket. "At the Suna Exams we barely spoke at all." We lean against the wall waiting for the four members of the Genin Corps to arrive in silence after that. _Perhaps she mistook my words._

 _Ah well. No matter._

"Don't be concerned so, Hana." Ichi nudges my hand with his wet nose. "We have two weeks ahead of us."

I manage a weak smile for him. "But this is the first time I'm leading a team, and it has to do with keeping the village safe."

Ni nudges my other hand. "But Hana's best." He states and San nods. "Hana's best."

I pat all three of them on the head. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, guys."

The members of the Genin Corps come in a group of three, and a single entity.

"Well." I clap my hands together. "Since we're going to be a team together for two months, let me begin by introducing myself." I look around at the three together, and then at the single one person who seemed really familiar. Nevertheless, I cannot place him. "I am Inuzuka Hana, and these are the Haimaru Triplets." I gesture to Ichi, Ni, and San, who are crowded around me protectively. "I like history, books, learning new jutsu, my family and my teammates. I dislike people who would hurt my teammates, people who think that my Sensei is only fit for being a machine that decodes messages, and people that dislike dogs." _And I hate Uchiha Obito, for what he did to Kakashi's mental state and how important he is to someone he couldn't care less about. That one Iwa ninja who's dead now that put the genjustu on Itachi to begin with, and Iwa in general for being hell on earth._ I add in the confines of my mind. None of those are suitable for sharing though. "My hobbies are training, and visiting my teammates. My dream for the future is to enter the Military Police Force." I look around at the five rather bored faces all around me. "Any questions?"

"No." Chikai is next. "I'm Akimichi Chikai. I like food, helping my parents at the restaurant and becoming stronger. I dislike how I am bad at baking, Academy problems that require mental math calculations that are stupid while in the field, and enemies of Konoha. My hobbies are tending fruit trees and cooking. My dream for the future is to open a restaurant that specializes in tempura."

The next person to speak is the boy that I feel I should know, but cannot place.

"I'm Nara-" He begins, stumbles and glances at me. "Nara Kasuga." _No...he doesn't look much like-_ the boy in front of me is thin, and frail. He'd dark circles under his eyes and he seemed defeated and broken. Nothing like the Kasuga that I'd threatened that night in Iwa. "And I have no dreams for the future." He finishes.

 _No dreams? None? Even I have dreams._ I'm not really paying much attention as the rest give out their names and introductions.

 _What happened to him to make him this way?_

The first time I'd met him, he'd been...well if not a typical Nara, then at least a confident boy with a cruel streak. He's all wrong now, soft spoken, quiet. He looks as though he already had a foot in the grave, half starved and overcome with fatigue.

He'd been a part of Asata-san's team. I had not realized that after the Iwa disaster that Team Asata had been disbanded.

Nara Kasuga is permanently on the mind as we make our way out of the village, and into a new day.

* * *

 **A.N.** More Kakashi. He's still being weird and opaque about his thought process. And then we have Koma-senpai rising above random stock character, Muta is informed of a horrible situation, Cousin Gaku is slightly more human but still kind of weird, and Nara Kasuga, again.

Hana is just being pelted with people and their agendas this chapter. Well, agendas except for Koma-senpai. He's mostly cool.

Thank you to WhiteFang001 (You're right, he can't be anticipated, he took up more screen time during this chapter and was basically a troll yet again.), CasJeanne (Itachi, so far as we are aware, does not refer to himself as a cat.), rickrossed (Always Itachi feels. He's such an easy character to have feels about), Alizay (I did feel that the summary was weird-ish, thus new summary, and yes, Sasuke is in fact dearest, but Itachi doesn't always think clearly), Snidekick (Well, I suppose Kakashi is on the road to recovering his mental state if you count the fact that he's added a second chair to his apartment.), Sam (No Itachi Hana interactions this chapter, but Itachi Hana interactions will in fact, continue.), and The Yeah (I am a singular person. I write the chapters generally the night before I upload them. And I am stuck in present time. I do, however, never sleep, so there's that to be considered? Your comment made me laugh really hard btw) for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed, huge shout out. Bloodless passed 100 favorites yesterday! YAY!

You all are amazing.

~Tavina.


	38. Team Leader Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I own no part of Naruto.**

* * *

Nara Kasuga is a problem that refuses to leave my mind the farther we travel away from Konoha. Oh, he's been doing a wonderful job of staying away from my presence, but that doesn't get rid of the responsibility I feel towards him. _I'm still his team leader, and yet I can't even talk to him._

Akimichi Chikai has no compunctions about speaking to me though. "I hear that something happened in Iwa." She remarks one day as she flips a piece of red hair out of her face. "Something bad."

"Well, fights don't grow on trees you know." I mutter. There's no way that I am going to tell her about everything that went down in Iwa. How could I tell her anything about what had happened with Sensei? How could I tell her anything about Itachi?

We didn't even know each other really well.

"Well, aren't you the friendly one." She looks at me with an amused expression, the corners of her mouth tilting down, but laughter sparking in her dark eyes. "And here I thought that all Inuzuka were a friendly folk."

"We're a _family_ oriented folk." I clarify. "Most of my clan find the entirety of Konoha to be more or less their family. I've learned better." _They lambasted Tou-san easily. They did not accept him. I haven't forgotten._

 _Perhaps a normal child would have forgotten in four years how they looked and whispered behind the backs of their hands at her father, but my memory is long. Longer than most._

"Hmmm." She nods. "Well, I know your hobbies, did you want to know anything else about me?"

"What happened to your teammate?" I ask before I can stop myself. _What's wrong with Nara Kasuga?_

"San-kun?" She asks and tilts her head in my direction thinking. "There's nothing wrong with him. He's working in T&I right now, why?"

"I didn't mean that teammate." I throw up my hands. "I mean the one that's currently under my command."

"Kasuga?" She takes a step back. "I wouldn't know. I've always been closer to San-kun than I was to Kasuga, and I haven't seen him in more than a year. How would I know more than you?"

 _That's...cruel._ For the first time I realize that there might not actually be that many people who liked Nara Kasuga and the thought eats away at me all day. _Chikai doesn't speak with him. His sensei has clearly stopped being Sensei. And now he's looking so weird._

* * *

"Nara-san?" I make sure to sit next to him when we stop for camp and hold a ration bar out to him. "You haven't been eating much, lately." And really, he hasn't.

He shrugs. "Don't call me that, Inuzuka-taicho." _Taicho? Captain? I suppose I am, but still._

That it is Nara Kasuga who first calls me taicho and means it is strange. The other members of the Genin Corps are older, and they listened to Chikai, who is closer to their age much more than they listened to me. And perhaps that is fair, but I am her equal in duty, and the slights frustrated me.

"Why shouldn't I?" I ask.

Behind me Ichi growls. "We shouldn't pay attention to him, Hana. He hurt you."

I push his face away. "We cannot look away from suffering even if other people will."

"He hurt you, and we couldn't help." Ni nudges my hand. "We can't forget." _I can't forget your blood out in the noonday sun either. No one's forgotten anything._

"But we can forgive." I say, finally. And I find that it's true. _Whatever's going on with him, it's eating him up from the inside, but I've got no permanent injuries from the encounter._ "It's time to forgive. We've held a grudge for a year already."

He's edged away from me and the Triplets while I am discussing our next course of action. "I just don't want you to call me that when it isn't going to be true for much longer."

 _What?_ "I don't understand what you mean." _He's a member of the Nara Clan. What isn't true about that?_

He chuckles and it sounds like he's dying inside really. "You don't know how much your Sensei loves you."

"What does Sensei have to do with anything?" Sensei's an invalid. He's got to be careful even inside Konoha, or he'd get sent out on a mission and then he'd die. His position with the Hokage is already shaky. I worried for Sensei, even here, at a peaceful border station, on a routine patrol.

If Sensei made the wrong move, he wouldn't be there when I get back.

"He is still a Nara even if he lives outside the clan compound." Nara Kasuga is looking at his hands. "A year ago he submitted a petition regarding me. At the time, Shikaku-sama wasn't about to consider it, but now..." Now he's part of the genin corps. He isn't a student of the elder son of the Hokage anymore. He's part of the Genin Corps and that's a dead end job.

Sensei's words come back to me. _I will personally oversee his punishment...by the end of which he will wish he'd never been born._

 _Sensei couldn't have. He couldn't have submitted a petition to strip a boy of his clan name. Not if they are a part of his family, part of his blood._ But even as I protest it, I know in my heart that it is exactly the type of thing that Sensei would do. He would, because Sensei has a cruel streak, and he is fiercely protective of his children.

Sensei is perfectly capable of an immense and almost immeasurable cruelty towards the ones that he finds to have wronged his people.

Nara Kasuga is proud of being a _Nara,_ like any other clan child. And Sensei knew this because Sensei is disturbing good at reading people. _Sensei knew exactly what would hurt him. He knew exactly what would break him._

 _And now it will be like he'd never been born. Disowned. Stricken from the records. Nara Kasuga will be erased forever._

The thought that his existence, the very last thing that he is proud of being stripped from him because he'd made a mistake turns my stomach. That Sensei is doing such a thing because of me is horrifically beyond belief.

"No." I stand up. "It won't happen." I turn to him. "When did they say they were going to do it?"

"Why does it matter to you?" He sounds tired. "It is for you that Nara Ensui wants such a thing to begin with."

"Why did you do it?" I had always wanted to know why.

"Is it so strange to expect that I might not have expected either of you to end up being people I had to fight?" He's staring with dead eyes into the firelight. "I'm no good in a fight. Is it strange to think that I didn't want to die?"

 _What did Muta do to make him think he was about to die?_

"Perhaps if you didn't use me as a shield he would have just beat you up instead of sending you into a three day bed rest period." I say mildly. "When are they going to announce your predicament?"

"Just call me disowned and be done with it!" He spits. "It will have already happened by the time we get back anyway." His cheeks glisten in the firelight.

I feel the bottom drop out of my stomach. No matter what he'd done, I couldn't imagine what being disowned felt like. Didn't know how to react.

"I forgive you?"

He laughs, the sound a shattered mirror. "Good to hear, Taicho." He turns those dark eyes at me. "You're too forgiving."

And suddenly his predicament is my responsibility. "Better to forgive sometimes." I hold the ration bar out to him. "If I am your taicho, then I ought to feed you, and you ought to listen." _First, we make sure that he survives to see getting back to Konoha. We can worry about his metaphorical cessation after we make sure that his literal existence is ensured._

* * *

Chikai's team splits with mine at the checkpoint on the border. "Well good luck, Inuzuka-chan." She waves at me and I wave back. I'm heading up the north fork of the Naka River along the Konoha-Taki Border, with Kasuga and Ito Fujio. The Triplets, as ever, are tagging behind. Her team turns south.

"So, _Taicho._ " Ito-kun begins. "How should we go about patrolling?"

I raise an eyebrow at him. "The obvious way one goes about patrolling the same mile long stretch of river for two full weeks." I turn back to the newly vacated watch cabin. "By walking along it at given intervals of, oh, say every two hours or so."

Ito-kun is not convinced. "But Taicho." He helpfully points out. "There are only three of us. How will we manage two hour shifts?"

 _He's just trying to be troublesome, isn't he._

"The same way that all three man teams have been managing this stretch of river for years, Ito-kun." I comment mildly. _I have to keep a lid on my temper. I have to. This is no place to break down._ "Someone, we'll say me, will take tonight's night watch. You'll take tomorrow's day watch. Kasuga will take the next night watch. I'll take the day watch. You'll take the night watch. And we keep cycling." The corners of my lips tilt down. "It's standard procedure, Ito-kun."

He frowns but doesn't say anything more. In anticipation of tonight's watch, I go to sleep.

* * *

The border between Konoha and Taki is...for lack of a better word, seriously boring. Luckily, I do have a timer set for every two hours, and taking a mile run at each interval isn't extremely taxing. Most of the time though, I sit and read Tou-san's rudimentary notes on the Explosion Release.

His first page is a warning that failure to be in full control of the technique at all times is liable to cause explosions of unknown size and severity. Which...sounds like something I do not want to try while at even a peaceful border not a stone's throw away from a foreign nation.

He does however, recommend that I practice chakra control, because that is the first part of understanding how to combine two chakra natures.

Seeing that the Explosion Releases's other chakra nature is lightning, I'd also packed a scroll on rudimentary lightning jutsu.

The Lightning Bolt Jutsu is the first one on my list. Being able to shock people out of the ground is useful, and it's only a D rank technique with three hand signs. Snake. Horse. Monkey.

I gather chakra, and the electricity practically sizzles away from my fingertips, and rams it's way straight into a tree. Scorch marks appear, and the tree smokes slightly. _That..._ I check my chakra levels.

They are practically unchanged.

 _It might only have been a D-rank Jutsu unlike the C and B rank Dotons that I enjoy using...but, still. That was weirdly efficient. And strangely easy._

I turn to the next Jutsu on my list. C-Rank. Bird Swarm Technique. Four hand signs. Monkey. Rat. Dragon. Snake. The air fills with the humming of about three birds. They too, ram themselves into the focal tree.

The tree looks decidedly worse for wear. My chakra levels have dipped, but nowhere near what they would have for even a Mud Wall.

At this point I suspect that my first elemental nature isn't Doton after all. _I've never been able to use a Doton correctly on the first try. I've just copied the hand signs of two Raiton jutsus out of a scroll and somehow both of them worked more or less like how they should've._

Then again, I'd never checked what my primary chakra nature is, and Sensei had taken my understanding of my own strengths and weaknesses at face value. I sit down on a tree stump.

 _Why did I think Doton is my primary chakra nature?_

Tou-san had left me a scroll for Doton Jutsu, but that didn't automatically mean...I turn back to the list of jutsu that I'd compiled. _What else can I learn?_

* * *

By the end of the first week, Ito-kun is really becoming an annoyance. "Why must I be the one to patrol the river today, Taicho?"

"Because it is your turn on the rotation, Ito-kun." I raise my eyes from the chakra control papers that I'd been perusing. "And because Kasuga really needs to sleep, he looks half dead right now."

"Can't you go by yourself, Taicho?" Ito-kun crosses his arms over his chest. "After all, you are the chunin among us." Ito Fujio is at least ten years older than me, and it shows in the way that he stands defiantly before me.

"And as I am your superior officer, and you acknowledge as such, you ought to follow my orders." I comment. I could feel the tension in the air building to a head, but there has to be a clean slate. There has to be a new start or else I'd be living forever without the respect that I'd come to think of as my due. _I might only be nine years old, but honestly, you've been very rude this entire time._

"If you beat me in a sparring match, I'll acknowledge you as the rightful leader of this team." Ito smirks at me. _He knows a team leader would never seriously fight a subordinate on the border. It's so beyond the proper mission protocol. He wants to push me up against a wall._ "Unless of course, you're scared."

I can't fight him on the border, but I have three wolf dogs who'd been dying to tear a piece out of him ever since he'd started being unpleasant and unresponsive. I whistle, and they come running. Three to one, they make short work of defeating Ito-kun.

I smile politely at his fuming face. _It might not be the best way to wield power, but I'll take what I can get to make him go at this point._ "I'll leave you to your border patrol then." He turns and stalks off.

There's a clatter, and I turn to find that Kasuga's tripped over a chair. I offer him a hand. "You know, you shouldn't push yourself this much."

He's still thin, and depressed looking and his diet of soldier pills and ration bars has done nothing for his well being. I suspect that his depressed state over his impeding doom has something to do with it.

"Thank you, Taicho." He mutters as he collapses onto the bed.

"It's Hana." I tell him, but he's already fast asleep.

Ichi troops in. "To be honest, he's much more bearable like this."

I raise my eyebrow at him. "So are you willing to forgive Kasuga for his mistakes now? He wasn't purposefully trying to kill me."

Ichi nods very seriously. "You've chosen a deputy. That's very important."

"He's a member of the pack." San whines. "And if he's pack then he's important."

 _That's not what I was going for, but alright. If it works, it works._

* * *

Our trip back to Konoha when the next team relieves us is as dull as the time we spent on border patrol to begin with. Ito Fujio is not walking with Kasuga, the Triplets and I, instead he prefers to lead the way.

Perhaps it makes him feel like he is the one leading the team, but no matter. No matter at all.

I have bigger fish to fry, and a Sensei to question.

We pass the village gates, and Kasuga makes to head off to elsewhere before I grab his hand and tow him along with me.

"Where are we going, Taicho?" He'd still been unable to call me Hana, but the mission's over now, so he should be alright with it now.

"It's Hana." I correct absentmindedly. "And I have a Sensei to visit to make sure he rescinds that submission of his."

Before learning the truth of what Sensei has done to Nara Kasuga, I hadn't thought that his love could be problematic, could be so brutal and could make him so calloused regarding other people.

I'd lived in the center of his love for over two years now, and it had become as simple and unalterable as much as the summer sky is blue, and summer grass is green.

But for the first time I have to realize that while it sounds good that Sensei's willing to end lives to ensure my happiness, I didn't want him to do it.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Taicho." He's protesting, but he isn't forcing me to use chakra to drag him along, so I manage to very easily persuade him that going to Sensei, and Kiho-baachan's house is a good idea.

Or at the very least, I make sure that he's still with me by the time that I arrive.

* * *

"Kiho-baachan!" I call out across the darkened living room. There's no reply from her, but Sensei himself does appear from beyond the doorway. He carries a cane with him, and I can hear its tap all the way across the room. "Sensei." I begin, and he notices the person standing behind me.

"Aren't you supposed to never return to my house?" Sensei sits down on one of the low sofas, and glares at Kasuga with undisguised hatred. "I'm sure that only my family members have the right to wander into my shadowed property." _It would be a valid threat if you could actually manipulate your shadow, Sensei. At the moment, you can't. Nobody knows that beyond Team Tan, but if you keep acting like this, someone will find out._

"Sensei." I say again, more frustrated than ever. He's acting exactly the same as if he's in peak condition and not in conflict with the Hokage. He's acting as if he still has the power to back his words, and that is a dangerous game to play. "Why did you ever submit an application that strips a clan son from the clan?"

Sensei shrugs artlessly, and Kasuga shrinks into himself. "Well, Hana-chan, if they hurt my children then they will pay the price, both the boy and the clan."

I walk over to sit next to him, because while Sensei's still as prideful and as independent as ever, as that is the reason he carries a cane instead of using a human walking stick, he's still not normal. And I worried for him.

 _Crippling Chakra Exhaustion, that was in the note that Mu-kun sent me after he'd found out the official name for it._

In many cases, Crippling Chakra Exhaustion is just that, permanent, irrevocable, crippling.

Sensei tells us two years will be enough for him to return to his peak condition, which we'd never seen before, because he'd always been tired while being our full time Sensei, and full time Head of Crypt. I don't know how it is possible though. Sensei's still the same as when I'd left two weeks ago. And back then, he'd been just about the same as the two weeks before.

At least his shadow has returned to it's normal shade of black.

"What if the boy has apologized and been forgiven?" I ask.

We regard each other neither willing to give in, and he traces a finger over the red fangs on my cheeks. "You really are Inuzuka, Hana-chan." He smiles ruefully. "Far too forgiving. And you're Inuzuka in the ways you'd least expect of Kaito's daughter." He glances up at Nara Kasuga. "I'll let you go for now, Kasuga-kun, but remember who bought your life for you." Sensei runs a hand through my hair and pulls me close so that he can shield me with his own body. "Your loyalty is to remain Hana-chan's until the day that you die. You'll live for her. You'll die for her. You'll do as she says."

"Sensei-"

He cuts off my protest with two fingers over my mouth. "It is a cross that he deserved to carry, and you have removed it for him. He needs a new cross."

"I intend to." Nara Kasuga replies. "She will be my Taicho until the day I die, I promise you." He looks at Sensei, tears burning in his eyes. "Don't erase me, Jisan. Please."

Sensei inclines his head. "You've been pardoned, Kasuga-oi. I'll speak to Shikaku."

But I remember now, what makes Sensei different from a tyrant, what makes him so lovable, and so generally human and not evil. _Sensei's willing to listen. And Sensei's willing to change his decisions based on a request._

 _It is more than one can ask of most vengeful men._

* * *

 **A.N.** Hana realizes that En-sensei is indeed a human, and a rather vengeful and somewhat cruel one at that, at times. Nara Ensui has his faults, but she still loves him dearly. And at heart, he's a good human being who has his own flaws. Also, this chapter establishes that Kasuga is in fact Ensui's nephew.

Thank you to WhiteFang001 (We will indeed find out what happened to Cousin Gaku, but that takes a while longer.), Fuchslady, (Welcome to Bloodless! and yes, Nara Kasuga is a child, and he was primarily motivated by fear. Hana learns this, and attempts to be forgiving.), rickrossed (Hana knew most everything that occurred until the Five Kage Summit, and some facts that most fans of Naruto can find on the internet, however, Hana's been forgetting things because no one can carry a story that big around in their heads and she didn't think to write it down. There will be consequences.), Guest (Rest assured, romance is a very small part of this story, and will actually occur at a normal time in life, not for many, many years yet.) Born to Sleep (There will be Kasuga, Chikai interactions in the future, but not at this juncture.), Alizay (Hana's mission is about as successful as border patrol can get when one is nine years old and both your teammates are much older than you. But hey, at least Kasuga got somewhat better.), CannibalisticApple (Thanks so much for offering! I'm honestly blushing so much because of that.) Ghostly Guest (Welcome to Bloodless, I hope you'll enjoy the journey!), Sis (Why thank you. I couldn't do it without you.), libraryrockerr (I'm so glad you like it.), and May525 for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed!

So I'm trying to decide whose perspective I should write about next for Ashen, if you guys have a particular one you want to see you can always go and check out the poll I have up.

We just passed 24 thousand views tonight.

Thank you so much everyone.

~Tavina.


	39. Team Leader Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Nara Kasuga, whom I'm sure is still going to remain _Nara_ Kasuga, disappears around the doorway. The tensions slipped a bit from his shoulders now, and it makes me glad as I watch him go.

I turn back to Sensei. "You're his uncle?" It is even more incomprehensible that Sensei would do something like this for me now. _Kasuga's Sensei's blood._

Sensei shrugs. "More or less, but actually second cousin once removed." But suddenly, he's coughing again. There's no blood this time, just Sensei with a rueful smile up at my worried eyes. "I'll be fine, Hana-chan."

"You aren't fooling anyone, Sensei." I state flatly, and cross my arms over my chest. "Why haven't you told the Hokage about this?" _Why doesn't Sensei trust the Hokage? Almost every time we're in his presence Sensei's some sort of antagonistic. It's not healthy, and in many ways, it isn't right._

Sensei frowns. "Well, anything that the Hokage knows, his council knows as well." His fingers tap idly against my arm. "Anything the Council knows the rest of the world will later learn." He smiles mildly at me, but there's a shadow in his eyes, a shadow that I've never seen before.

It is a slow burning anger. A raging fire of something that can't be quenched by requests or words or tears. It wouldn't die until he did, and I had a feeling if he didn't get whatever it was that he wanted before that he'd come back to haunt this world as a malicious spirit. I just have no idea what it is that he wants. "I've made plenty of enemies in my time, Hana-chan."

 _Oh. Of course he has._ I do not find that Sensei who is stubborn and recalcitrant having enemies to be particularly strange, and they are probably enemies that he wants to keep hunting. "I just thought that maybe there'd be a medic in this world who could help you." I mumble. _Tsunade's not in the village, but if she could help Sensei, I might be tempted to find her._

"No medic in the world is capable of altering the spiritual balance of a soul." Sensei's staring at the ceiling, his dark eyes normal once more. "Not even Senju Tsunade, Hana-chan. All alterations of the soul beyond what the gods decree have a price."

"It was only a thought, Sensei." I brush off my shorts and accept that Sensei's current weakness is not something that can be easily changed or thwarted. "I just wish that the truth wasn't so."

He chuckles, and his laughter turns into coughs. "So do I, Hana-chan."

* * *

Itachi appears from beyond the doorway when I rise to go. "Sensei, is it alright if I walk with Hana?" He glances at me. _I have to talk to you._ I nod back at him.

Sensei tilts his head towards him. "Yeah, I had some more stuff to teach you about decoding today, but you can go."

I slide my arm through Itachi's as we walk out into the street. "You had to talk to me?" I ask.

He sighs. "I don't think that Sensei's getting better."

I frown. "Let's go to Mufu-an." _Let's talk somewhere private. Let's talk somewhere safe._

He smiles weakly at me. "Yeah. We should."

We enter the crowded tea house in silence, but it is a silence that speaks louder than words. We are of one mind today, Itachi and I.

"How may I help you two?" Fumiko-san smiles at the two of us. "No Ensui-sensei today?" We have the presence of mind not to wince. It would have been a dead giveaway that there are things wrong in the world.

"Nope!" I babble. "No Sensei today."

Fumiko-san sighs. "That Ensui, he's not been around ever since he got back from Iwa. It's so inconsiderate of him."

Itachi and I share a glance. _Sensei hasn't come because you would sniff him out in a heartbeat. It is a kindness really that he refuses to visit._ "Can we get a private room?" Itachi's still the same as he was before the disastrous trip to Iwa. He's still kind, and considerate, soft spoken and almost gentle.

I am glad that Sensei is able to preserve his good heart for at least two years longer. _If he is Sensei's apprentice in Crypt, there is no discussion about whether or not he applies for ANBU. If he does not enter ANBU, Danzo doesn't sink his claws into him._

"I don't think that Sensei's gotten any better in the last month." Itachi states as soon as the server has come and gone with our tea. "I mean, he doesn't cough blood when I can see, and Kiho-baachan is very careful of his moods, more so than she's ever been before, but I don't know if his current state can be called better."

"He did say he would regain peak condition in another twenty three months." I blow on the surface of my rose tea. There are too many thoughts swarming about in my head. "I do not think that Sensei would lie."

"I do not either." Itachi sighs. "Sensei does not lie, but I do not know how much he truly knows about this kinjutsu."

"Well," I counter. "But he was the one to create it."

Itachi shakes his head. "That does not mean he does it often. Or that he knows how it affects him in every situation." He takes a sip of his tea. "I was..." He trails off staring at the painting of two cranes on the sliding door. "I wasn't myself. There was a lot of pain and fear."

I set my hand over his own. "It is not your fault that Sensei did what he did, Ita-kun." And it truly isn't. Sensei did what he did because he cared about Itachi. I doubt Sensei had even really paused to consider his decision.

"But if I hadn't been weak..." _If I hadn't been weak we would never have been attacked by the masked ninja. If I hadn't been weak Sensei wouldn't be like this._ I could hear every word that he couldn't speak aloud and I could never accept them. _You were dealt an awful hand, but you got me, and Toku, and Muta, and Sensei._

"Don't be stupid." I slam my hand down on the table. "How could you even think something so stupid?" _Uchiha Obito. Iwa. The Tsuchikage. You took from me. I will not forget._ "None of those things were your fault."

He smiles ruefully. "That's what everyone keeps telling me."

"Well, maybe you should listen then. Everyone knows better than you, Tensai-sama." I stick my tongue out at him.

His eyes widen, and he bursts out into uncontrollable giggles. "Tensai yourself, Hana-chan." _We graduated academy on the same day._

 _We made chunin the same day._

 _He thinks we're equals._

* * *

Kiba is throwing a tantrum when I get back, and Kaa-san is sitting on the floor with him. "I wanted more than one puppy!" He screams, tears running down his face. "Why don't I get three puppies?"

Kaa-san groans. "I already told you that this doesn't work that way, Kiba."

I pad over to set my hands on Kiba's shoulders. "What's the matter, Kiba-chan?"

He slaps my hands away. "You're the worst, Neechan! I hate you!" With that parting shot, he gets to his feet and races off down the hallway.

His words are painful. Kiba had always adored me. I am uncertain of how to deal with the aftermath of his declaration. _Did I do something wrong?_ I sit down hard on the floor before Kaa-san.

"Are you alright, Little Nose?" She's looking at me with dark and worried eyes.

"He's never done that before." I laugh, but I don't feel great at all. "But he has to say that at least once right?" I look up at Kaa-san. "Why was he upset?"

"I offered to give him one of the new puppies." Kaa-san runs a hand through her hair, and for the first time I realize her mascara is blurred. "And he began to throw the tantrum that you heard the tail end of when you stepped back in." She rises to her feet. "I don't know why he's doing this, but I will have to talk to him. He's not allowed to scream and wail when things don't go his way." She smiles at me. "You never had such a difficult personality." She ruffles my hair. "Don't worry, he doesn't hate you. He's just upset right now."

I watch as Kaa-san strides down the hallway after Kiba.

I still feel as though I did something wrong. _It should be the time when Kiba's introduced to Akamaru._

 _In the original timeline he was perfectly happy with Akamaru, and they never had any disputes. And now he doesn't even want Akamaru and I don't know why._

But if it is something that has to do with my darling otouto, the only person who could have moved the needle on his temper is myself, and that is what haunts me. _Why doesn't Kiba want his best friend?_

* * *

Kiba refuses to speak to me for the rest of the night, and there is nothing that Kaa-san or Cousin Ashi can do to turn him back into my normal otouto.

The puppies had not been triplets this time, and it is impossible to juggle a bond with three ninken that aren't triplets because they would have different chakra levels. They would not be like the Triplets who agreed with each other about practically everything. Kaa-san calls it the collective mind.

"Do you suppose that Kiba meant it?" I ask Ichi as we lie, all four of us sprawled out on the floor.

"I think the pup is being silly." Ichi huffs and rests his head on his front paws. "He does not know what he is missing. He does not know what he is hating. He just wants to be like you."

"Really?" I had not thought that it might be Kiba's admiration that caused this drastic deviation. _Does he want three puppies because that makes him like me? Does he think that that is what makes me, me?_

"It is obvious that he adores you." San snuggles closer to my right side. "As he is a very smart pup."

Ni wriggles closer to my other side. "He's being dumb right now, but he'll come around."

"But what if he actually hates me forever?" I can't get it out of my head. _Even though it's normal for children to claim that they hate people who don't give them their way, Kiba has never done this before. He's four years old. He's not a teenager. He's never done this before._

Ni turns one dark brown eye at me with a grave amount of seriousness. "How could anyone hate you forever?" _You. Oh you._

I pull him down for a hug and sob with relief in his neck. "I can't thank you enough." _And I can't. Oh I could never thank you enough._

Ichi prods my back with a paw. "Nonsense. You're pack. That's how pack loves pack." Only the Triplets follow me everywhere, and the Triplets love me so unconditionally that any of them would die for me without a second thought. And they could not conceive of anyone who did not love me.

I simply couldn't thank them enough for their unwavering nature. _We'll be together always. This I promise you._ I run my hand down the scar on Ni's side. _Thank you, Big Brother._

He huffs against my ear. "Is uncomfortable, Hana."

San pounces on me when I let go of Ni. "It's my turn to be hugged." He licks my face wildly. "Hug me, Hana! Hug me!"

We end up sleeping on the floor in a gigantic tangle of limbs fur and wild brown hair.

* * *

Muta's kikaichu have gotten much better at finding me even when I am beneath the ground. I burst out of the earth when I notice that there are three sucking chakra from me, and Toku surges forward to jyuken my arms.

I twist away from him and make three hand signs. "Raiton: Lightning Bolt." I under power the jutsu though. It only stings him roughly and he blinks, suddenly confused. I sweep a leg out in an attempt to trip him, and he seals three tenketsu in my wrist in retaliation.

Muta punches him in the shoulder, and while Toku ducks we trade blows as I pull more and more lightning chakra towards my arms.

It is easy to move, but hard to control properly, and I have to be careful that I don't hurt either of them more than a mildly shocking sting.

That, and as I learned to my dismay while at the border, Raiton jutsu, while not as draining as Doton jutsu, are exponentially more dangerous if the caster isn't focused. I'd lit a lock of my hair on fire while I'd been distracted, and only the Naka River had saved me from having a bald head.

I'm not sure if I would have ever been able to live down the shame of making myself bald because of faulty jutsu.

Toku seals about five tenketsu on my legs as he straightens up, and I find it hard to move properly. I open my mouth to concede.

The sound of the screen door opening and soft footsteps in our direction has us halt our fight though, and Toku unseals the tenketsu that he'd managed to seal on both Muta and I, and we all three of us turn to see Haya-senpai setting down a tray of desserts and snacks on the low table on the porch.

"We don't have such strong taijutsu users in my division of Tracking." Muta comments. "Thus I thank you for lending your time."

Toku slaps him on the back, careful not to disrupt any kikaichu. "Stop being formal Mu-kun!" He commands.

Muta rolls his eyes. "Fine, Toku-kun. I will endeavor not to speak to you with any respect whatsoever."

I dance around them. "Does that mean that Toku has no self respect anymore too, Mu-kun?" Toku glares at me, and Muta smiles.

"Indeed." He then hurries forward towards the porch because Toku has a look in his eye that promises painful and embarrassing secrets being revealed to the general public.

Haya-senpai giggles, a wide sleeve held over her mouth. "I am glad you three are such good friends."

We pass the afternoon rather idly after that, catching up with this and that around the village, and talking about Muta's unclassified tracking missions.

* * *

I am halfway back to the Inuzuka Compound and my house when I see Koma-senpai again. He's wearing his ANBU uniform, but he's removed the mask and left it wherever it is supposed to be right now. And his face is the blank slate that I recognize as his agonizing worrying face.

As he walks past me on the other side of the street he stumbles slightly and I notice that he's limping, if only just slightly.

"Koma-senpai!" I call, and hurry across the street to him. "Can I walk you home?"

He eyes my sweaty appearance with a small smile around his lips. "Hana-chan, if I am not much mistaken you just came from my home." _I suppose that Koma-senpai can be truly termed as having all seeing eyes._

 _Toku, you better catch up on the detail sensing soon._

"Yes." I sigh. "I just came from your house, but I want to walk with you."

He inclines his head at me, a sign of acceptance, but his smile slips from his face. "Of course you may if you wish to, Hana-chan."

We walk in silence for another block or so, before Koma-senpai asks me a question. "If you had to choose between service to your village, and service to your clan, what would you choose?"

I glance up at him, and his tired, drawn face, and his slight limp, and his carefully concealed trembling hands. _What's happening to him? I thought he was a part of the Hokage's ANBU, not Danzo's._

 _Kami. He isn't a part of Danzo's ROOT is he?_ A mere moment later, I toss the thought away. _If Koma-senpai is still lucid enough to talk about Clan then he isn't part of ROOT._

But would I choose my village or my clan? Both of them had their share of people who'd shaped my early opinion, and my opinions regarding some old civilian women are simply terrible. "I would chose neither, Koma-senpai." I offer. "I would choose my family." And family is different than clan.

Family included my team, my blood family, my friends. It is infinitely better than both of the options he has named.

He nods. "It is a good idea." He sighs. "The Elder Shimura wants me to work on more dangerous missions for him." _And by more dangerous, what you really mean is more stomach turning and more horrifying. You'd be answering to him instead of the Hokage._

"You do not want to." I observe. _Koma-senpai is very kind despite his pride in his work in ANBU. He cares very much for his siblings and his parents._ "If you do not want to, you should refuse."

He laughs gently. "I do not think that is an option, Hana-chan." He smiles at me, and it looks as though beneath the surface he is shattering to pieces. "I cannot say no to Elder Shimura, the Hokage has agreed." And I could really learn to hate the Hokage for his casual kindness towards Danzo that resulted in very real cruelty for everyone else. He turns to look at the long road ahead of us. "I assume the Clan would agree as well."

I should not trouble him further. I know I should not, but I have to ask. For Toku's sake, for Haya-senpai, his perfect mirror in every sense, I have to ask. "But what would your family think?"

"They would not agree to such an arrangement." He comments. "That is why I asked you." He inclines his head towards me again. "The Inuzuka are known for being true to themselves, and you are the Inuzuka that I know best."

We've arrived at side door of the compound now, and I do not step in. I hold his forearms, and look him in the eye. "You love both Haya-senpai, and Toku-kun very much, Koma-senpai. And you care very deeply for your parents. Don't let Elder Shimura take what is precious to you away." _Please don't, Koma-senpai._

 _I'm sure that the Hyuga Clan will allow you your one act of rebellion._

* * *

 **A.N.** Sensei is worried over by everyone. Itachi and Hana have a conversation. Kiba must come to terms that admiring his sister is not the same as _being_ his sister. And Hyuga Koma is deeply conflicted. Misery for pretty much everyone all around.

Thank you to Missfroogy (He's not going to get punished since he didn't technically _do_ anything. That and Hana's forgotten about him already.), Fuchslady (I endeavor not to kill any of my characters simply because the MC doesn't like them or doesn't know what to do with them. I also have great plans for Nara Kasuga, so he's going to stick around.), Estarc (Thank you so much for making me blush today. Yes, I do write my chapters the day before I post them. I've also always interpreted the combined elemental natures as they could be equal, but not exactly the same. Hana still has some problems to work through regarding Raiton.), Guest 1 (Gaku is Gaku. His memories are scattered so badly even he doesn't know entirely what's going on.), Guest 2 (I'm not certain that Kakashi is ever going to be Hana's mentor. He's never one to voluntarily seek out more relationships to burn to ashes.), Snidekick (I'm glad you liked it!), kira shadow wolf (Welcome to Bloodless. I hope you enjoy your stay!), rickrossed (Many things will occur with both Toku and Koma.), ninetytwocharsonetable (You've got a really cool name btw, and welcome to Bloodless!), WhiteFang001 (I wrote Kasuga thinking about how a normal genin would react. Not one of the Rookie Nine, who are all geniuses in their own rights, but someone who has an inferiority complex, but who's also deeply prideful. Nara-sensei does in fact, have his own problems. He's a bit obsessive about his loved ones to the detriment of his casual relationships if we haven't already realized.), libraryrockerr (I believe for Kakashi that's Tenzo...), and DuxTell (There won't be time skips longer than a few months or so, there's a lot Hana has to do.) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed, we passed 200 followers tonight. Thank you all so much.

~Tavina.


	40. Team Leader Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I rise with the sun as I do on most mornings, but this morning I resolve to begin running again. "Are you guys coming?" I ask the Triplets who are still sprawled in various positions on the floor.

Ni cracks open an eye from his snuggled position on the floor and whines. "No."

San moves closer to his brother and says not a word. Only Ichi flips to his feet and pads out behind me. "They are all dumb." He comments.

I giggle. "You want to sleep too."

"But I know that running is fun too, and not to sleep more like a lazy bug." He yawns and stretches. "It will become colder soon." He muses. "And we will soon be living in our tenth winter."

"You're unusually thoughtful today, Ichi." I pat him on the head, suddenly grateful that ninken had longer lives than normal dogs. _The Triplets would be so old now if they are not ninken._ As it is, the length of their lives are tied to my chakra, and they will not age much beyond my own age. It is why Kuromaru could still fight despite being in his early twenties, ancient for a normal dog, but not the eldest of the Inuzuka dogs by far.

An Inuzuka does not well survive the loss of their canine partner and an Inuzuka dog survives the death of their human partner even worse.

"I think as much as I am supposed to." Ichi responds and we slip out of the clan compound and settle into an easy rhythm down the street.

"Sure you do." The corners of my mouth quirk up. _Even as the eldest of the Triplets, you don't think over much most of the time. Or at least, you aren't being philosophical about whether or not we will again live in winter._

I'm still lost in thought when a green blur passes me. "YOSH! KEEP GOING YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM OF SPRINGTIME!" I do not pause my running, but I do turn my head to stare. I suppose I am a 'blossom of springtime,' so I couldn't even be mad at his epithet. _Is Gai-san running on his hands?_ The second question that plagues me is even worse. _I'm not going at top speed right now, but still, this is a fairly good clip. How is he running faster on his hands than I am on my own two feet?_

Ichi nudges me. "The Irritant is back."

"Maa, I heard that you know." _Oh no. I've been accosted by a troll._

I'd not quite forgiven Kakashi for his rather...unusual actions last time. Or for calling me an overeager puppy. _You were the one following me not the other way around!_

"You deserve the title, Kakashi-san." I mutter, and continue running. "You are a first class troll." Unfortunately for me, I cannot run fast enough to avoid Hatake Kakashi, and I probably never will. _Curse him. Will he go away?_

"Hana-chan, that's so hurtful." He appears in front of me, plastic eye smile and all.

I take two steps to go around him and continue running. "I'm upset with you." I announce because he's still following beside me, and at the same time, looks like he isn't even running at all.

"But how could you ever?" He muses and pulls out the obnoxious orange book. "Aren't I simply wonderful?"

I accept that I will never be able to avoid him or make him go away. I stop and he stumbles slightly before turning to face me. "No, you really aren't Kakashi-san." I cross my arms over my chest. "I've got work to do." _Sensei's...and then Koma-senpai...and Kiba and I just can't deal with trolls right now._

 _Especially not the infamous S-Class troll that is Hatake Kakashi. I don't know what it is that he wants but right now there are too many things going on._

I stomp away from him my heart getting heavier with each step. It doesn't feel right to leave him standing in the road, but I didn't have the energy to spend on trying to get him in a good enough mood to tell me what is going on with him.

* * *

That afternoon I'm summoned to the Hokage's office. _He doesn't give a reason for my meeting. Even so, he's still the Hokage._ I tuck the message scroll into my pouch and whistle for the Triplets who come running after me. _If he wants to know anything about Sensei..._

 _If he wants to know anything about Sensei I will have to be obscure._ Sensei depends on my choices to keep him safe from his enemies for another two years. If he believed that telling the Hokage would make his condition an open secret then I wouldn't say a word.

I rap on the door of his office. "Hokage-sama? It's Inuzuka Hana."

"Come in." There's the sound of moving paper.

I open the door, step in, and bow deeply while staring at the floor. I have no desire to look at his face. Perhaps he'd be able to read whatever lie I decide to tell about Sensei in my eyes.

When I raise my head again, the Hokage's expression is pensive, as if he's remembering something from very long ago. He sets his pipe down. "What are you planning to do with your new status as a chunin?"

"I plan to enter the Military Police Force, Hokage-sama." It is not what I expect him to ask, but it is a question that I can answer truthfully.

"And Fugaku agrees?" The Hokage seems a bit surprised.

I quash whatever irritation I find within me to somewhere down deep. "Yes." _Fugaku-san has never belittled my dreams._ If I actually stop to think about it, Fugaku-san hasn't ever been mean, not to me, not to Sasuke, not to Mikoto-san or Shisui or Itachi either. His face might be stone, but there is a heart in him, and it isn't even buried deep.

"I see." The Hokage hands me a mission scroll. "I would like you to check the border between Konoha and Kusa. Two weeks. Pick your own team from the off duty Genin Corps."

I take the mission scroll. "Yes, Hokage-sama." _How are you the one to create such pain in Koma-senpai? Has he not served you well for years?_

He has still more to ask me. "Inuzuka-chan, how is your sensei?"

"Sensei is the same as ever, Hokage-sama." I reply, and yes, it's not entirely true, but Sensei's _personality_ is exactly the same, and that's what I mean so I'm not really lying. I gaze at the lined face of this aging leader, and I wonder if he even knows Koma-senpai at all despite how much Koma-senpai's sacrificed for him. "If I might as a question, Hokage-sama?"

He puffs on his pipe. "Go on, Inuzuka-chan."

"Why did you agree to let Koma-senpai transition to working under Elder Shimura?" It is a bad idea to question the Sandaime. It is an even worse idea to fixate on Koma-senpai's fate when I didn't even know what it would be, but he'd trained me ever since I was a very young child, and his brother is my best friend. _The brother of my brother is my brother._

"It is an honor for him to be considered for the branch of ANBU that Danzo directs."

And I hear nothing but the screaming pounding of blood in my ears. Red bleeds at the edges of my vision. _It is an honor? AN HONOR?_

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." And my voice trembles and shakes because I am talking back to a god. "Koma-senpai doesn't find it to be an _honor._ "

The Sandaime chuckles. "A portion of both your parents then." He's serious again a moment later. "These things are not for you to decide, child."

 _I am not a child. And I will protect Koma-senpai._ Nevertheless, I know that it is no longer possible for me to push the Hokage. _If I do I will make him angry._ "Of course, Hokage-sama." I murmur as I bow once more, my hands shaking with fear and fury. "The decision is always yours." _Never. One day it will not be._

 _And then we will see._

* * *

I walk along the river after I leave the Hokage Tower, lost in thought. _I cannot plead further with the Hokage to change his mind. Danzo most certainly will not change his mind. Would Koma-senpai himself be able to change the mind of the Hyuga Clan?_

The might of Hyuga Hiashi might be enough to stay Danzo's hand. But would the head of the Main Branch help a Side Branch member, however talented, however kind, to rebel?

I do not know.

But there's a mission scroll in my hand, and I have to pick a team. _Let's check to make sure that Kasuga is still in the village._

And I will trust that Koma-senpai to hold Danzo off for these next two weeks. _Koma-senpai is strong._

 _He'll be able to keep charge of his own destiny for two weeks._

* * *

The Genin Corps barracks, for all intents and purposes are were most of the Genin Corps spends their days when they are not on patrol or otherwise. Ito Fujio had been rude last time, so I strike him off the mental list that I want for this mission.

"Excuse me," I'm standing in the doorway of one of the barracks. "Can anyone tell me where Nara Kasuga is?"

"Are you lost little girl?" A genin in his twenties leans against one of the bunk beds and smirks.

Another one sits up from a sprawled position and gives me a once over. "Are you trying on your Otou-san's chunin vest for fun today?"

And that barb stings more than the comment about whether or not I am lost. "Tou-san is _dead._ " I snap. "And I have a mission that requires Nara Kasuga."

They burst into uproarious laughter. "You expect us to believe that you go on missions, little girl?"

I stride into the room careful to keep whatever shreds of my temper that remained intact. _It would do no good to beat them into submission._ I smile at them, the same smile that Kaa-san used on those people that she found irritating. "Would this be enough to convince you?" I hold up the mission scroll, but my other hand clenches into a fist. "But it doesn't matter does it?" I tilt my head back. "I'm a chunin at age nine. You're just two twenty-year-olds in a dead end job."

"Now see here-" The man leaning against the bed post stalks forwards toward me, his eyes glittering angrily. _Well come at me then. I can take you._

"Tamaki!" A young woman of about seventeen bursts into the room behind me. "You can't do that, she's just a child." I don't know what is worse, being frowned upon and mocked for being a little girl, or the idea that someone thought I needed to be protected from a genin even if they are over ten years older than me.

I turn around. "I'm a chunin of Konoha." I say very clearly and distinctly. "And I am looking for Nara Kasuga."

"Oh." The young woman takes a step back. "Umm."

"Taicho?" Kasuga crosses the threshold. "Someone told me there's a fuss going on in here, but what does this have to do with you?"

"I was mistaken for a child dressed up in her father's chunin vest by some idiots." I deadpan. "I was looking for you." I throw the mission scroll at him. "We have a border patrol again, go collect someone else that won't think I'm stupid because I don't even brush the top of their shoulder and maybe it'll work out this time."

With that, I stalk off to actually make something of myself. _Is this what happens when you're not famously a prodigy? You keep getting mistaken for an idiot?_

 _What height do I have to be to actually get respect from people?_

Enemy ninja are different. They assumed the worst you could possibly achieve-kill them-before putting you down because you were barely above four feet.

* * *

I rap on Kiba's door before I head out. The Triplets, in their eagerness, are already waiting outside on the porch. "Kiba-chan?" I call.

"Go away." The sullen reply is expected, Kiba has still not forgiven me or himself or someone, I'm not sure which.

"I'm going away for two weeks again, so you won't see me in a while alright?" _Don't be mad at him. He doesn't know much better._ But still his reply hurts.

"Good. 'M glad."

With a sigh, I shoulder my pack and go outside to join the Triplets. "We're leaving through the east gate this time, guys." I whisper as we set off.

"The pup is still not coming around?" Ichi asks.

"No." I try not to make it sound like I'm upset about it, but clearly it doesn't work. _Kiba, Kiba why do you not see that you'll have a best friend if you'd just accept Akamaru?_

San yips angrily. "He's being a bad pup. He should be taught a lesson."

"We'll see." I say. "It's Kaa-san's job to work with him about his personality."

"Taicho." I blink. _Oh. There's Kasuga. And I nearly walked past the east gate. How lovely._

"Sorry Kasuga, who's with us..." I trail off. "Oh it's you."

Ito Fujio shrugs. "Oh it's me again, Taicho." He smirks. "Bet you didn't expect that one."

I cross my arms. "You don't even like me. You despised me the last time we ran border patrol together." I swing my gaze over to Kasuga. "I told you to ask for volunteers that wouldn't be a hassle."

Kasuga sighs. "He _did_ volunteer, Taicho. And he's the first one that volunteered for yet more border patrol duty." _What does everyone else do then?_

I throw up my hands. _There's absolutely nothing going right today._ "Alright. Let's get this show on the road then." We vanish into the trees.

* * *

"So why are you volunteering to run border patrol with a person you don't even like?" It's decidedly odd.

Ito-kun shrugs. "I need the mission paycheck. You were sensible enough last time. Can't have everything."

 _He needs a paycheck? What for?_ "Do you guys get paid by the mission then?" I ask, and for the first time realize that I didn't know much about the Genin Corps at all besides the fact that they are the group of shinobi that didn't seem likely to be promoted to chunin. Most of them passed the Academy Exam, but not the Jonin Sensei one.

"Yeah." Ito-kun sighs. "I've got people to care for." _That's why he was so frustrated last time. He didn't want an incompetent nine year old doing anything that would get him killed._

"Taicho, we're approaching the border." Kasuga gestures towards the vacated watch house. "How are we setting up rotation?"

We have a strip of border three miles long this time, and standard protocol says that it should be checked every two hours. "We can't do the same as last time." I mutter. "For one thing, this isn't a peaceful border like Taki, we never know if someone might be ambushed." I nod to myself. "We'll go in pairs, a person and a dog. That way we'll be able to get messages back as quickly as possible if there's an emergency."

Ito-kun nods. "Seems alright."

Kasuga glares at him. "What do you mean, 'it seems alright'? Taicho said so and that's all there is to it."

Ito-kun snorts. "Taicho, Taicho, Taicho. Taicho has to get tired of you and your obsession."

"Obsession?" This makes me feel mildly uncomfortable. _I was not aware that things have progressed to such a stage._

"Of course I don't have an obsession!" Kasuga buries his face in his hands. "No obsession is happening!"

Ito-kun smirks. "Oh he definitely has an obsession." He pitches his voice higher and sticks his hands in his pockets as a terrible mimicry of Kasuga. "After he got back it was all, Taicho is forgiving. Taicho likes rose tea. Taicho has the best ration bars. Taicho. Taicho. Taicho."

My face feels like it's on fire. "That's...very nice." _How does something like this even happen?_

Kasuga whimpers. _Believe me. I feel just as bad right now. Possibly worse, but at least just as bad._

* * *

Nothing of note happens at the border until about a week into the trip. I'd finally purchased chakra paper. At this point, I'm almost afraid of what I'm going to find. _Well, nothing for it._ I push chakra towards it.

And it wrinkles a second before it crumbles and turns to dust drifting away in the wind. _So a little bit more lightning than earth? But earth prevails in the end? Does it mean that they're equal? It would make the most sense..._

I turn back to my Raiton notes. At least I know that I do have an affinity for electrocuting things now.

However, my unfortunate chakra nature test is not the most interesting thing that happens that day. Far from it.

Ito-kun comes back mildly nervous at about four in the afternoon. "Taicho, I think we have a situation."

I glance up from my Raiton notes. "How so?" _It is possible that it's a team from Kusa checking on their side of the border._

 _Or it could be something much worse. Like Kumo. It could definitely be Kumo._

"There were chakra signatures on the other side of the river. One of them was huge." _That does not sound like Kusa._

I set my notes aside and whistle for Ichi. "Do we want to bring Kasuga to the border to check it out?" I ask. "It might not be a confrontation."

"Let's bring Kasuga." Ito-kun pokes his head in around the door. "Oi, Kasuga, come with us to the border, there might be a disturbance."

The three of us, including the Triplets, head down to the border together.

* * *

We're at the place where the river bends away, lazy and slow, and the trees grow close together before abruptly becoming grassland on the other side of the river. Theoretically, if there's a team over there, we should be able to see them coming from a long way away, but these are ninja we're talking about.

"I don't think there's anything wrong though." Kasuga yawns. "There's just grass over there, just like normal."

"I tell you, I felt something over there that definitely wasn't normal." Ito protests.

Ichi sniffs the air. "They smell familiar."

I look down at him. "Can you place them?"

"I-" He whines. "No. But they aren't us and we've met them before."

So of course, it's not even surprising when a team from Kumo just suddenly appears in front of us. _Yugito, and the two others that Toku beat down during the Iwa Chunin Exams._

There's a kunai in my hand not a moment later. _Are they looking for vengeance? Are they looking to cross the border?_

"Oh look!" Yugito waves at me. "It's the Little Leaf." She grins, and I can see all of her teeth.

My own lips curl up of their own volition. "Oh, look! It's the Cat Girl." _What do they want? They could have taken us if they wanted to, because I don't know Ito-kun or Kasuga's fighting styles well enough. This isn't like I'm here with Ita-kun and Toku._

"I'll tell you a secret." Yugito mock whispers. "If we get a match here today, we won't cross the border."

"Why?" I ask. _What even is this._

She glances at both of her teammates. They seem content to simply listen to her. She grins at me. "I traveled all this way down to the border 'cause I heard there's a girl with three dogs down here." She pouts. "You don't want to disappoint me do you?"

"So," I say. "You want us to have a match right here, just the two of us, and no matter what, you'll leave right after?"

"Well, if you lose we're going to cross the border." She shrugs. "Higher stakes you know." Kasuga opens his mouth to protest, and I glare him into submission.

I step out onto the water. "We're fighting on the water." As far as I know, Yugito has the power of the Nibi but no Raiton Justu in her arsenal, and she does not know that I have learned a second element. Perhaps she'd let down her guard.

She smiles, and it's dagger sharp and thin enough to slip between my ribs. "I'm game."

We clash in the middle of the river, dancing over the surface as though we're born to do it. There's no intent to maim or kill yet though, so there's only been bruising.

Neither of us use many jutsu until she leaps back to get a little space. She's flashing through four very familiar hand signs. _The Great Fireball Jutsu._

I make only one, and I wait until the fire's almost upon me. Substitution, and we switch places and she lets go of balancing on the water to slip beneath the river current to let the Katon Jutsu pass over her. She shoots up in front of me, her claws out but I've expected this.

I wrap a hand around her wrist and I feel my chakra _pulse._ Raiton can very easily hurt the user, and I let go just a second too slow. My hand is raw and red, but her arm is worse.

She leaps towards me with a snarl, and I palm a kunai in my left hand and brace for impact.

And suddenly she's frozen.

"I think Taicho won that one." Kasuga comments, his hands in the rat seal. "It's first blood and your arm is bleeding."

"I never said that." Yugito pants. "Let me go."

"Did you want to fight until one of us is dead?" I ask. Her teammates move forwards threateningly, and I hold my kunai against her throat. "Back off." It's a light touch, because I don't want to kill her and have all sorts of problems crop up. _Yeah, I don't think the Hokage would appreciate world war four simply because a stupid chunin killed one of Kumo's Jinchiruuki on the border._ "Because," And I say this very mildly. "That could be arranged."

She glares at me. "Fine." At my unimpressed look, she amends her statement. "You win. We're heading back."

I step back, and the last I see of the team from Kumo is Yugito's blonde braid swaying through the tall grass.

"What was that?" Ito sounds shaken. "Who was that?"

"Nii Yugito." I comment. "She's the jinchuuriki of the Nibi." I glance at the two shell shocked boys. "Come on, we can head back to the guardhouse now. There's no reason for any other disturbances."

* * *

We pause about a quarter mile down the river. "We should turn around and head back." I announce.

"What?" Ito blinks. "You told us to leave the scene."

Kasuga whacks him over the head. "Taicho only did that because she actually wanted to make sure they left, you idiot."

"It's not like you're all that smart either." Ito mumbles under his breath. "Stupid Nara. Stupid clan kids and their stupid abilities to take on monsters that aren't even supposed to be on this plane of existence."

"You said there were people you're taking care of at home right?" I ask, to get his mind off of the event. "Who are they to you?"

He turns his head away. "Kaa-san. Both of my imotou." He frowns and the look of disgust on his face is clear. "My deadbeat old man ditched us for another woman when Kaa-san got sick."

"You don't want to be a shinobi at all." He just needs the money that border patrol gives him. Nothing about his motivation actually mandates that he wanted to be a shinobi or fight for Konoha. "Why didn't you get another job?" Honestly though, being a shinobi is dangerous. We die, and we die young.

"Wouldn't pay enough when I was a kid." He huffs. "And when you serve in the forces you're stuck there forever." _The Shinobi Genin Stipend pays more than a normal civilian job?_

 _Where do civilians get their money from then? Especially the kind of money the Daimyo's wife gets to pay kids to catch her hellcat, that sort of thing doesn't come cheap when stacked with everything else._

There's no time to think about it. "Let's sweep the border at hourly intervals." I announce. Both of them grumble, but we sweep the border at hourly intervals for forty eight hours after that. It is harrowing on the soul and the mind.

Nothing else occurs. _If that was not the setup for an invasion, what was it?_

I can't quite accept the idea that she'd come down to the border just so she could fight _me_ of all people. Demanding Ita-kun fight a rematch were he down at the border I could see. Demanding that _I_ fight her though. That's just strange despite how eager she was to fight me last time.

Still, nothing happens for the next two days, so we go back to normal patrols.

Nothing happens for the rest of the week, and we reluctantly go home after leaving a message for the next team that Kumo nin had been sighted at the border. We don't know why.

* * *

The village is complete bedlam when we make our way back through the gates. Kaa-san is there to greet me and she squeezes the breath from my lungs as soon as I step foot back into Konoha. "Thank goodness, nothing happened to you, Little Nose."

I blink. "Is there something wrong?"

The village seemed to be agitated, somehow. Not alright and weird. There are no civilians on the streets.

Kaa-san grabs me by the shoulders and shakes me. "Is there something wrong? IS THERE SOMETHING WRONG?!" And then she pulls me back into a hug. "I thought we lost you permanently."

I am now thoroughly confused. "Kaa-san." I protest. "It was just a regular border patrol nothing out of the ordinary happened." _Well, besides the weirdness with Yugito, but Kaa-san doesn't need to know that I fought a jinchuuriki on the border._

"OROCHIMARU OF THE SANNIN CROSSED THE SAME BORDER YOU WERE PATROLLING YESTERDAY." Kaa-san carts me off away from Ito and Kasuga. "DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS?"

 _What. WHAT?! Orochimaru crossed the border?_ I feel a chill run down my spine. If he had crossed the border yesterday, then that means that he's defected.

If he has defected...then if he had met us he might have slaughtered us all. "Kaa-san." I protest. "I still have to hand my mission report in to Hokage-sama."

She lets me go reluctantly. "Come straight home, you hear?"

I nod. "Yes, I will."

* * *

"You were surprisingly lucky, Inuzuka-chan." The Hokage peers at me over his steepled hands. "Orochimaru crossed the Konoha-Kusa border just a mile downstream from your three mile stretch." _Am I supposed to be lambasted for being incompetent now?_

"I was." I agree very carefully. "And I am very grateful."

"You do not seem surprised by my former student's defection." The Hokage says this casually, but I know better than to lower my guard.

"I did not know him well." I respond. "And I spoke to Orochimaru-san just once." _And the strangest thing about him then, was that he was still wearing a standard flak jacket._

"I was not aware." The Hokage muses. "What did he say?"

"He spoke...of genin teams." I answer. "Of students and teachers." I hand over the mission report. "There was an incident with a team from Kumo along the border, but nothing came of it during the week after." I rise and bow. "I hope your days are kind to you, Hokage-sama."

I have a Hyuga to check on. _Koma-senpai, are you alright?_ A little brother to find. _Kiba-chan, have you forgiven me yet?_

But Kiba is my little brother, and I have a duty to take care of him before other people

I go home to find him first.

* * *

"Neechan!" I'm assaulted by an armful of sobbing little brother as soon as I step foot over the threshold. "I'm sorry Neechan." He wails and buries his face in the crook of my neck. "Sorry."

I pat his back. "It's alright, Kiba-chan."

He shakes his head, still crying all over my shoulder. "Kaa-san said that N-neechan could have di-died." He hiccups and wails even louder. "And then Neechan wouldn't ever come back ever just like Tou-san."

I pull him very close and walk off towards my room. "But I'm alright you know, Kiba-chan. Nothing happened to me." I slide my door open with my foot and we sit down together on the floor leaning against my bed.

"Didn't want last thing said to Neechan to be that was glad that Neechan was going away." He mumbles, still sniffling, but not crying any longer. "Loves Neechan lots."

"I know, Kiba-chan." I ruffle his hair as he pulls away. "I know."

And while I still might not know why he'd professed his hatred, I know that I still have his love. And that is enough. _We'll be alright._

* * *

 **A.N.** In which a variety of things occur, and the current arc concludes. Next up, Inuzuka Clan Problems...and more on Hyuga Koma and his internal conflict. I'm actually alright with the Sandaime, up to a certain point, but Hana's inside the story now, and no matter how you cut it, the Sandaime is really lenient with Danzo. Also, Hana did in fact brush Kakashi off this chapter. There will be problems down the line.

Thanks so much to Sis (We will see how things go.), LadyScatty (I do love Nara-sensei and his Vicious Hag as well. They have a rather wonderful relationship.), May525, (I'm glad you think so!), DuxTell (Ichi, Ni, and San, are adorable. But that's the thing about dogs.), and Guest (Hana has now checked her affinity, and is horribly confused. That and something happened with Kakashi this chapter, shenanigans will ensue.) for reviewing! You all are awesome.

And to everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	41. Clan Heiress Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"So do you want to go and pick out a puppy?" I ask, standing to brush off my shorts and set my mission pack by the door.

His eyes light up. "I get to go with Neechan?"

I nod. "Of course. Do you want to go?" I offer him a hand and we make our way out the door.

"Where do you two think you're going?" We turn guiltily. Kaa-san's standing there with her arms crossed over her chest. "Kiba. I told you, you're grounded until this time next month."

Kiba's lips wobble. "Kaa-san..."

"No." Kaa-san isn't quite glaring at him, but she's not amused either.

"'Pologized to Neechan." Kiba mumbles. "Neechan said was okay."

"Well I don't say it's okay." Kaa-san points in the direction of Kiba's room down the hallway. "Go back to your room, Kiba."

His eyes fill with tears, and I can't quite take this anymore. "Kaa-san, Kiba didn't do anything-"

"Don't shield your brother, Hana." Kaa-san switches her unamused expression to me. "He's been a little brat ever since before you left. It's time that he learned things don't always go his way." Kaa-san sighs. "When you were his age we'd already enrolled you in the Academy. Right now he needs to gain maturity."

It isn't fair to compare me to Kiba. When I was his age the first time around I wasn't great either. But there's no real way to explain to Kaa-san that I hadn't been a typical child. _I'd been Kaa-san's elder child. I hadn't been a child much really, but Kaa-san doesn't know that. How do I explain?_

Kiba takes a huge gasping breath, and then he runs down the hallway to his room rubbing his eyes, his shoulders shaking.

"That wasn't fair, Kaa-san." I remark. "Kiba-chan isn't mean."

"I know." Kaa-san sighs. "But he has to learn that his actions have consequences. He was mean to you until he remembered that you could die on any mission anytime. He's been running Ashi ragged. He's been a brat to me for a month until I told him about what had happened down at the border today." Kaa-san pats me on the head. "Don't fault me for being harsh with him. We've coddled him too much, he won't learn that way."

I don't like it. I don't like things that make Kiba unhappy, but I understand where Kaa-san is coming from. "Stop grounding him soon, Kaa-san."

She turns back to look at me, a tired look in her eyes. "I'll think about it."

* * *

It's better that I not talk to Kiba after that. He'd always been sensitive about whether or not someone has scolded him. Instead, I slip on my sandals and step out into the street. _We've never really had a full Team Ensui meeting before, Mu-kun, Toku, Ita-kun, and I._ The thought in mind, I walk down towards the Aburame Compound first to check if Muta had returned from wherever he'd gone last time.

He didn't speak much about it, or about the Shishou that is in charge of teaching him the finer details.

I find him in one of the Insect Houses, tending to the kikaichu with a steady hand. "Mu-kun!"

He turns towards me, a small smile on his lips. "Hana-chan." He sets down the pitcher of sugar chakra water. "Is there something the matter?"

I laugh. "No, not this time, I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out to Mufu-an with the rest of the team?"

He steps towards me, and slides his glasses over his face. "I know that Toku's at Sensei's house." He offers me a hand. "But I'd be willing to come with you even if he ends up not coming."

"Ita-kun should be at Sensei's house too." I muse.

His lips quirk upwards. "We are bringing Itachi-kun as well?" The thought is a bit out of left field. _Oh, of course, you dummy Hana. Muta isn't and has never been on a team with Itachi._

"He is a part of Team Ensui." I say. "I think we should invite him too."

Muta pokes me in the shoulder. "I did not say that we should not. He's important to you and Toku after all."

I laugh. "Well, then. I'll race you to Sensei's house." And with that I make one hand sign and replace myself with a potted plant down the street.

Muta growls. "You're not faster than me, Hana." And we make our way down the streets of Konoha like we used to back when we were genin, in a swirl of potted plants, slippers and ninja wire.

* * *

"Sensei?" I call. "Kiho-baachan?" There are no lights on, as normal, and we walk down the hallway as easily as the sunlit street because this is Sensei's house we're talking about. We've been here too many times. This is home.

"Hello you two." Sensei's sitting in the shadows of his living room, Itachi at his side. They are both still looking at various papers scattered over the low table, and Itachi is scrawling something else down furiously with his sharingan active as we peer in.

"Hello Sensei, Itachi-kun." Muta inclines his head towards Itachi. "We were wondering if you would like to join us at Mufu-an today."

Itachi's eyes widen before he schools his face back into a semblance of self control. "If Sensei is alright with it, I would like to go."

Sensei raises an eyebrow at me. "Why do I think that this is all your idea, Hana-chan."

I stick my tongue out at him. "Because it is all my idea, Sensei!" I dance forwards so that I can snuggle up to his shoulder. "I wanted to have a day where Team Ensui could sit around and drink tea in Mufu-an."

Sensei leans back against the couch and threads his fingers through my hair. "I turned you all into tea drinking maniacs. I'm so proud."

This close, I can feel the beat of his heart and every breath that enters and exits his lungs. His heartbeat, while slow, is firm and even. And his breathing is just as languid as he seems to be today. But neither are weak. "Still so worried, Hana-chan." Sensei chuckles next to my ear and I flush a dark red. _Of course Sensei caught me. I guess I didn't act as unworried as I thought._ "I told you I'd be fine."

"Sorry, Sensei." I murmur as I disentangle myself from him. "I won't do that again."

"You will." Sensei smiles, the corners of his mouth turning upward slowly. "But I forgive you." He waves a hand at us and pushes himself up from the floor. "Well, go on and collect Toku-kun from the Vicious Hag already." It is clearly still hard for him, but he disguises it with a surprising amount of lassitude so it just seems as though he doesn't _want_ to get off the floor that quickly instead of it being _hard_ to get off the floor.

We do not point it out to him. It would be insulting to offer to help him up. The three of us troop out into the hallway.

"So, we shall we go collect Toku?" Itachi asks, looking between Muta and I as if unsure of how to step forward.

Muta nods wordlessly. We turn and walk down the hall towards Kiho-baachan's makeup room.

"So how have you been since Academy, Aburame-kun?" Itachi is attempting to break the somewhat awkward silence that has fallen between us.

"Muta-kun." Muta offers, with a slight inclination of his head. "You should call me Muta-kun, Itachi-kun." He takes off his glasses and slips them in his pockets, his gold eyes flashing in the dim light, and there is his customary small smile on his lips. "You are a member of Team Ensui."

Before Itachi can reply, Toku bursts out from the open doorway. "You guys!" He slings an arm over Itachi and Muta's shoulders with a wide wide grin. "Did you all come to see me?" He sticks his tongue out at me. "Sorry, Hana-chan, I just don't have enough arms for everyone today."

I poke him in the stomach. "That's too bad, because I like to think that of the four of us, I'm the most popular."

He groans. "No, no! Everyone knows that's me because of my dashing good looks!" Itachi, Muta, and I freeze as we stare at each other in shock. _Did he just imply that we look bad? Compared to his white 'all seeing' eyes?_

When we turn to glare at him, he breaks out into mad cackles. "You should all see your faces!" We freeze again. _Actually, our faces must be pretty funny._

We're all still cackling madly as we make our way out the door and down the street to Mufu-an. _Trust Toku to lighten up the entire day._ Muta and I share a fist bump. _Good job, we corrupted him early._

* * *

"And Kiho-baachan wants me to dress up as a girl." Toku groans. "Isn't that just the worst thing you've heard of in your life? Kimonos? Silk ones with flowers on them? Hair ornaments?" He rests his head on the table in deep dismay. "I'm going to die a girl at this point."

I pat him comfortingly on the shoulder. "Well, you know, at least then we'll know what your long and beautiful hair really means, Toku."

Across from us, Muta laughs quietly into his tea. "Toku, this can not possibly be worse than manure."

Toku shudders without raising his head from the table. "This is a thousand times worse than manure." He wails into the table cloth. "I won't ever be able to show myself in public again."

Itachi also pats him on the shoulder. "Well, at least you'll never be mistaken for a Hyuga as long as you wear contacts."

Muta inclines his head towards him. "How so, Itachi-kun?"

Itachi turns, and with the most serious deadpan expression replies. "Because male Hyugas don't go around dressed in drag."

Toku whimpers. I pour more tea and we all laugh. "We broke him, Mu-kun." I lean across the table to shoulder bump Muta. "We did it. We corrupted a Hyuga and an Uchiha!"

Muta smiles, and surely I've never seen him smile so much in one day. "Truly we are talented, Hana." He replies. "Truly, there is something infectious in the air."

* * *

That evening when I return to the clan compound, I find everyone converging on the fire pit outside in our yard. There are more relatives here than I've seen in a very long time.

"Oh, Hana-chan." Cousin Ashi pulls me towards the center of the circle. "We've called a gathering tonight. It's really good that you made it back in time."

She gestures to the older man leaning against the wall of the house. "That's Uncle Kegawa, he's the most prominent of the Inuzuka men ever since Otou-san died, and right beside him is Uncle Teiru." I glance up at her. _Her father had been my uncle. He'd died before I was born. His name was...Kouga?_

"Uncle Kouga, right?" I squeeze her hand. "So he's Kosshi-baasan's elder brother?" He is the uncle that had never visited me, not even as a child, and the other one is my aunt's younger brother, a mere five years older than Kaa-san. He hadn't really visited me much either.

"His daughters are the ones that you'll have to defeat tonight." She whispers. _What? What are we talking about?_ "They're over there." Cousin Ashi nods towards a group of three girls. "Kotsuzui, Kihaku, and Kosha." She squeezes my shoulder. "You have to do this for us, Hana-chan. Our pride is on the line."

"What's going on?" The writhing mass of people and dogs in the red firelight is strange enough, but to know that I have to 'defeat' family members is just strange.

"We're calling-" Cousin Ashi trails off.

The Triplets wriggle out of the crowd towards me. "Bad news, Hana!"

Ichi rubs his nose on my thigh and licks me. "They're here to challenge your position in the pack." _What? I don't have any idea what's going on._ He growls.

"Bad news! Bad news!" Ni and San chorus.

Ni plants himself in front of me and growls every hair on his back standing on end as Uncle Kegawa approaches. "Get away from Hana!"

Uncle Kegawa laughs. "Call off your dogs, little pup."

I smile politely at him. "I always trust my brothers." I set a hand in Ni's fur. "You may stand down if you wish." I murmur at him. _I don't know what's going on, but there's something moving in the air. What's going on?_

Uncle Kegawa is still smiling rather indulgently at me even as he examines me from head to foot. "You do look much more like Little Tsume than that foreigner." He murmurs.

I bristle. "Tou-san wore _Konoha's hitai-ate, Uncle Kegawa._ " And I do not like him. Not one bit.

He merely chuckles. "You cannot become what you are not, little one. And you are half Iwa." He turns towards the group. "It's time we decided on an Heiress!" _Is this what it's all about? The vacant position of clan heiress?_ And suddenly the idea that I'd be defeating someone, one of his daughters, makes much more sense.

"As Tsume's daughter is unfit to simply ascend the position." And here he glances at me, a gleam of something dark in his eyes playing in the red firelight. "I'm calling a Long Howl." He throws his head back and howls.

All around the camp fire, men, women, children, and dogs echo his call. Our howls ring out loud into the night.

* * *

Kaa-san's upon Uncle Kegawa in a moment as soon as the howl ends, grasping handfuls of his shirt front, eyes blazing with fury. Kuromaru is right beside her, growling louder than the Triplets had been earlier. "What did you say about my daughter, _Aniki?_ "

Uncle Kegawa merely smiles, that same infuriating smile he'd pinned on me. "I merely pointed out the elephant in the room, _Imouto_." He spreads his hands wide in a placating gesture. "You chose to marry the man, and for that your daughter is half foreign. If she wants to earn the title of Clan Heiress she'll have to go through my daughters to get to it."

And he makes me sick, so sick, because Kaa-san looks smaller beside him. Kaa-san looks frail beside him. She's his little sister. He should be helping her up when she falls down, not kicking her down to begin with.

"You can't displace the Clan Heiress when there's no proof that she unfit for the position, Uncle Kegawa." I turn to find Cousin Gaku standing behind me. He gives my shoulder a squeeze.

"The male child of the former clan head can't say much about the decision for a new Heiress." Uncle Kegawa shrugs. "But if you have something to say, let's hear your piece."

Cousin Gaku turns to the gathering, his hand still on my shoulder. "I was there for Cousin Hana's birth." He announces. "And I saw how much she was an Inuzuka even then." He takes a deep breath. "She connected with her partners at a few months old." He gestures to the Triplets. "The Haimaru Triplets are three months older than her." And Inuzuka dogs bond with their partners when they are fairly young. Had I been born a few months later they would no longer have been available to partner with. "Everyone knows that I lost my memory when Kaa-san died during the Kyubi Incident. Cousin Hana was the one to help me collect what memories I now recall." He squeezes my shoulder. "I throw my weight with her, and if I am your friend, then you know what your choice is."

Cousin Ashi stands up. "Uncle Kegawa, I have something to say as well." Before he can acknowledge her right to speak, she turns on weakened legs towards the gathering. "When Kaa-san died, you all turned to Tsume-baasan. She didn't want to take the position, you all, besides Kaa-san, had cut your ties when she married Kaito-jisan." She sighs. "You passed over me, and I understand that I am no longer fit to lead the pack, but I ask that you follow precedence." She throws her head back, and stands, tall and proud for the first time in a long time. "I ask that you respect the traditions of our ancestors. The position of clan head passes mother to daughter. Sister to Sister, not Aunt to Niece especially not an Aunt to her brother's daughter." She glances across the fire at me and smiles. _This is what I do for you, little cousin._ "I throw my weight with her, and if you still follow the traditions laid down by our ancestors before us, you know where you stand."

Another boy stands up from beyond the firelight. "That's Cousin Shin." Gaku whisper next to my ear. "He is Uncle Teiru's eldest son."

"I counter your argument, Cousin Ashi." He inclines his head gracefully at Cousin Ashi. "I would have supported your claim before the Kyubi Incident, but I cannot look at precedence when it would lead us to the path of ruin!" He points dramatically at me. "While Cousin Hana is indeed a cousin, and Tsume-baasan's only daughter, she is only half an Inuzuka." I feel my blood boil and then run cold, freezing into ice beneath my veins. _This isn't about me. This is about discrediting Kaa-san. Uncle Kegawa set this up so that Tou-san comes into the discussion._ "If you stand with tradition, Cousin Ashi, then you stand with me." Cousin Shin smiles his fanged smile in the firelight. "You'll stand with our Cousin Kotsuzui."

 _Uncle Kegawa set this up to make sure that he is the next ruling power inside the clan._ Perhaps he really thinks that I am unfit to rule the clan. Perhaps he does think that Tou-san's blood in me, Tou-san's influence in the first five years of my life, makes me unfit for Clan Head. I had never thought of ruling the clan before, but I cannot let them discredit Kaa-san.

I step forward, my hands still entwined with the Triplets' fur. "A word, Cousin Shin." I call out above the firelight. "Did you ever speak to Tou-san?"

He looks uncomfortable. "I wouldn't speak to a foreign ninja, Cousin Hana. That would be treason."

 _I've got you._ My answering smile is poison in the red light. "Then of course, you weren't observant enough to notice that Tou-san wore a Konoha hitai-ate, and worked in Konoha's Research and Development Department. He lived right here in the Compound, Cousin Shin." I step forward another step towards him on the other side of the fire. "And if you weren't capable of noting that rather blatant detail, I wonder what other clan traditions you've forgotten to notice?"

There are a few chuckles in the crowd, but no one stands to speak for me. This fight, I will have to fight alone. I turn back to Uncle Kegawa. "You mistrust me for my blood, Uncle Kegawa, that is fine." I incline my head towards him. "Yet, I still do call you Uncle." I muse. "Which means that we must share blood, so it is your own blood that you are mistrusting. What will you respect from me? Is it strength?" I tug at the bottom of my flak jacket. "I graduated Academy two months before my seventh birthday. I killed my first person by age seven and a half. I made it to the final round of my first chunin exams at age eight. I stand here before you, a chunin at age nine. Is it my strength that you question, or is it just my blood?" I lean towards him, the mockery of a bow. "Or is it Kaa-san's judgement that you are questioning? Did you think that your _imouto_ chose a traitor?" I do not want to throw my achievements in his face, but if it strength that he wants, then it is strength he will find.

It is steel forged with the blood of my enemies. It is the love I have for my family. _And now I know why Cousin Ashi said that our pride is on the line._ "If you do not think me strong enough," and here I turn to the gathering. "If you think me weaker than my Cousin Kotsuzui, then we should fight. Here and now." I draw a line in the dirt at my feet. "I'm willing to fight."

Another howl goes up from the gathering, as one of the girls from before steps forward. She's got wild hair, wilder than mine, and a fanged smile, and she's at least eight years my senior. But the marks on our cheeks are the same. _These proud red fangs. I am proud to be an Inuzuka._ Her dog at her side is a dark brown, so dark that in the dancing light of the fire, she seems almost black.

"Well met, Little Cousin." She inclines her head at me. "I will make sure that you do not end up in the morgue."

I smile back at her, the same smile Kaa-san uses when she's using enemy bones to pick her teeth. "I offer you the same amount of sympathy."

Beside me, the Triplets array themselves in a line, and they look more vicious than ever.

"They dare. They dare to question the queen." San growls. "They will learn the error of their ways."

Ichi and Ni only offer their wordless agreement expressed in the forms of growls harsher than I'd ever heard them. The enemy is different this time. The enemy also has fangs and claws, and they wear our blood and our name but they are not ours. They will pay.

We tense together, and then we spring, dogs, four legged beasts all of us.

* * *

I'm rolling around in the dirt with Cousin Kotsuzui, and while our vision is red and we are swarmed with the lust for blood, the lust to defend and conquer, we keep hold of our minds enough to avoid the flames. She pins me beneath her, and she's bigger than me, stronger than me when we're fighting with brute strength, her jaws snapping mere inches above my throat.

I drive my knee into her stomach and follow her arching body upwards to reverse our positions. I'm snapping at her throat only a few moments before she flips us over once more. _I'm too light. Too light to pin her and make her submit._

I channel chakra towards my hands still wrapped around her forearms. This time, I do not care if it burns all the skin off my hands. I don't care if it burns my hands until they are nothing but bone. _You've always defended me, Kaa-san. Tonight I will defend you._

She shrieks in pain and I flip us over again, and we roll over and over, heading straight through the flames. The fire singes my eyebrows, catches on my hair, the coals burn through my flak jacket and dance over my back, but I do not care.

I cannot fight Uncle Kegawa and make him pay for his sins, make him pay for questioning Kaa-san and pulling apart the seams of the Inuzuka family dynamic, but I can make her pay. And through her obvious pain I can make him pay.

We roll out of the fire, and I get to my feet, swaying drunkenly, because now it hurts. She doesn't, but she's still alive. _I made good on my promise to you Cousin. You're not ending in the morgue._ There's skin cracked and peeling off of my hands from where I'd channeled too much raw lightning chakra and held it for too long. Burst and darkening blood vessels wind their way up my wrists.

My hair is no longer on fire, but the long dark hair that I'd grown out so carefully so not to be mistaken for Nohara Rin is gone. It falls again, chin length, and that feels right, it feels like it should. _I shouldn't change myself so I become less like someone else that I've never met before. It didn't stop Kakashi from thinking so anyway._

I open my mouth, raise my face to the moon, and I howl my victory. _This is where I belong. And you will accept me._

And now, in the dark, from all around the graying coals, the clan lifts their voices in song. _We've chosen a leader. We've chosen a queen. A new pack mother._

I smirk at Uncle Kegawa. "Blood answers blood." My eyes start sliding shut, and Kaa-san's racing out of the darkness towards me.

"Hana!" She cries. "Hana! Musume!" _Daughter._

"And pride goes before fall." I murmur and then I crumple, and all around me, the dust rises, gray as ash.

* * *

 **A.N.** And we get the meeting of all the students of Nara Ensui. They get along pretty well, all things considered, and both Itachi and Muta are clearly trying to have a smooth and happy friendship. And one of my absolute favorite things, Clan Politics. Clan Politics everywhere. Now, none of these people who question her loyalty are _bad_ , because they aren't really.

They don't know her very well, and loyalty is important to the pack, and Kaito never quite understood pack as much as he understood family. (I also kind of feel that this is sort of how a meeting of the entire Inuzuka Clan would go: the firelight, the moon, the howling, the packness of the entire affair, coupled with their matrilineal lineage. They wouldn't be stuffy about it like the Uchiha or the Hyuga, but they'd have their own traditions and their own formalities.)

Thank you to Guest (Kakashi will make his appearances as he makes them. He keeps demanding more screen time to be troll-like in, so I assume that he will attempt to teach her something sometime. It might blow up spectacularly though.), LadyScatty (Kakashi is opaque as usual, but he does have semi decent motivations. And yes, he definitely has some very serious issues. Kiba is adorable. He's also four which means he will be bratty, it's a sign of being four.), Fuchslady (We don't see any Kakashi appearances this chapter, but there's supposed to be a lot of him next chapter...I think. I can't tell yet since he's being a troll. ._. And thank you so much, your comment made me blush really hard. I'm glad Hana's a human and not a Mary Sue.), the yeah (No we will never explain why Hana's where she is. She just is. It's a mystery of life and death that she does not contemplate very hard.), Sis (No that's not what happened, but Hana sure was distracted.), WhiteFang001 (Yep, Orochimaru is a diva. For sure.), libraryrockerr (Yes, Kakashi is trying. It's just that his trying is for lack of a better word...irritating? and also since Hana looks nine years old it's kinda hard for people to take her seriously.), and snidekick (I love Yugito too!) for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	42. Clan Heiress Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto**

* * *

As I had just rolled through a fire the night before, it is no surprise that I woke up in Konoha General. My first impression of being awake, is the fact that the heart monitors are beeping. _Well, at least I'm still alive...that has to count for something right?_

"I thought you were a Doton User." A fake and overly cheerful voice announces. The voice sounds vaguely Kakashi like, but it has to be a bad dream because Kakashi never visits hospitals to begin with, and I am definitely in one. Nevertheless, it would be useless to open my eyes and check.

"I learned a second element." I mumble, and wriggle deeper into the hospital sheets that smell like bleach.

"The overeager puppy needs to slow down before she kills herself." Again, this voice sounds a lot like Kakashi. _I am not an overeager puppy, Idiot Scarecrow._

My eyes snap open. I'm about ready to yell at him, but his face is less than an inch away from mine. _What the hell?_ I sit up, our foreheads bang together and I scream loud enough to wake the dead.

Kakashi falls off the bed and ends up like a starfish on the floor. I'm not sure if he's doing it because of the theatrics or if he was actually shocked by my impromptu forehead bump. Knowing him, it's probably because he wants to be dramatic.

"HANA!" Kaa-san bursts through the door and I can see the exact moment that she spies Kakashi because she goes from worried to furious in under a second flat. "You." She growls, and advances on the poor starfish on the floor. "Why. Are. You. Here."

Kakashi peels himself off of the floor with surprising alacrity. "Oh look at the time! I'm two hours late for a meeting with the Hokage!" And then he promptly flees out the open window.

Kaa-san gives me a decidedly unimpressed look. "Why do you even know anything about him to begin with?"

I wince. "I fed him hangover cure at one point and now we keep getting impromptu meetings?" I venture, but really that's not exactly the extent of our relationship at all. _I made him food, on multiple occasions. He's been surprisingly kind, on other occasions. He provided training tips...they were all irritatingly done but they did happen._

 _And now he's following me around, asking strange questions, and visiting me in hospitals. He is actually a fungus._

Kaa-san sighs and rubs her face with her hands. "I suppose you would not agree to never talk to him again?" She asks.

"No." I reply. "I wouldn't."

She sits down in the perfectly usable chair by my bedside that Kakashi had not used. He had preferred to perch on the railing of all things. "Fine. But Hatake's got mental problems. You'll want to be careful interacting with him." Kaa-san looks like she had't slept at all last night, and not even her vibrant mascara can cover the very salient bruises under her eyes. "That and he's going to get himself killed one of these days. Please don't think it won't ever happen."

I wince. _Well technically, Kaa-san...Kakashi manages to survive pretty well. Mostly._ The details are hazy, but I did read in some online article that he lived until the end of the series. He does technically survive that long. I do not delude myself into thinking that I would have any impact at all about whether or not Hatake Kakashi pulled himself through life under his rain cloud of misery disguised as fake cheer.

She stretches and lays her head down on my bedside table. "I'm proud of what you did last night." She ruffles my hair, and smiles, soft and slow. "You put those rumors to rest once and for all."

I smile back at her. "Uncle Kegawa wanted to discredit your choices. He wanted to discredit _Tou-san._ I couldn't let him do it."

She gets up and kisses my forehead. "Kai-baka would be proud of you, Sprout."

And there are tears in my eyes that refuse to go away no matter how many times I blink. _Tou-san would? I hope he would._

* * *

And when Kaa-san opens the door the rest of the clan is there with gifts and loud voices and music and laughter. And there are the Triplets, Ni limping, Ichi with a bitten ear, and San with a scratch over his eye. Their preening though, suggests that I should have seen their opponent, a classic, you should have seen the other guy. I laugh and they break into doggy chuckles.

And Kiba, a very sorry Kiba, who vows that he's never ever going to be mean to Neechan ever again for the rest of forever.

I laugh and pat his back. "Let's make sure we get an awesome puppy."

Kaa-san bops him on the head. "You're still grounded until the end of the week, Kiba."

He takes it without protest. "Yes, Kaa-san."

Cousin Shin steps forward, something of an apology in his eyes. "I-" He stops and sighs. "It was wrong of me to say that you were only half Inuzuka." He stares down at his hands for a moment, but then he has the grace to lift his head. "I do not excuse myself, Hana-hime." And then he's kneeling by my bedside. "I committed slander against your father, and were he still alive he'd be father of the pack."

I thread my hands through his hair, and accept his submission. "You will never do so again." I say, and I truly hope that he won't or else I would have to find some way to discipline him and despite how he'd acted yesterday I didn't want to hurt more of my family. _Is it so wrong to want acceptance from them?_

"I will not." He agrees. "Inuzuka Kaito has raised a pack mother. He is an elder of our pack."

It's the two sisters of Cousin Kotsuzui that step forward next, Kihaku and Kosha. "We're sorry we were bystanders." They bow once, in perfect unison, and sit down one on either side of Cousin Shin. "And we wanted to say that we would have fought you had your victory been indecisive."

"Would have?" I ask them.

They grin, cheeky smiles and dimples dancing across their chin. "Neechan said that you fought well, and what Neechan says we believe." _So Cousin Kotsuzui's woken up then._

"She'll be fine?" I do have to wonder if she was alright. I had pinned her in the flames last night, and while I am sure she didn't die, I don't know how she is, really.

"Neechan's made of stern stuff." One of the girls reply. Seeing my unspoken query, "I'm Kosha, the youngest." she adds. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Hana-hime."

"Tell me about our family." It is not strange that they'd be accepting now, that I think about it. I'd never really reached out to them before, preferring to spend time with the relatives that I already knew since childhood.

Cousin Kihaku tilts her head to the side. "Who would you like to know about?"

"Everyone I don't know about." I reply.

A glimmer of shock flits across her features. "I didn't know that you wanted to know about all of us."

"Why wouldn't I want to know about everyone?" Now that they were offering, I wanted to know everything about everyone. Not one of them had ever told me about themselves before.

"But you never came outside to play with us." Cousin Shin props his heads on his hands. "No offense, Hana-hime, but you never did come out." _I never offered to play with them? Why would it matter?_

"We waited a long time." Cousin Kosha sighs. "We thought you might have needed time, but you went outside the compound after you learned how to walk and you never did come to play." _They thought I wasn't interested. They thought I didn't care to get to know them._

I had been an oddly deliberate child, and back when I was three or so I had been more interested in reading about chakra or history or trying to hide from Danzo and moaning about my life in Konoha than wondering what games my cousins were playing. I'd spent so much time with the Triplets and Kaa-san and Tou-san and I'd never introduced myself to them.

"I didn't know that I was invited." I say at last, because I truly didn't know that there'd been a standing invitation for me to come and join them that I'd been ignoring. _All these years I thought they didn't accept me, they were thinking I didn't accept them._

Cousin Kihaku looks horrified. "And we never asked." She turns to Cousin Kosha. "We thought Hana-hime was being standoffish because she wanted to spend time with her parents all the time, or spend time by herself, but we never asked."

"Oh no." Cousin Shin buries his face in his hands. "We got everything wrong." _Well that sums up our pretty kettle of fish alright._

 _We got everything wrong._

* * *

"So I like tempura, origami and wrestling." Cousin Kosha settles back with her arms wrapped around her knees. "Neechan loves pocky and playing the flute."

"My little brothers, Kidate and Shizen like to play ball." Cousin Shin gestures towards two little boys who were whispering with Kiba in a corner. "My imouto is still very little, I'm not sure what she'll like. I'm fond of the flute as well, we have a music section in the evenings on Saturdays, if you'd like to come?"

I sigh. "I don't play an instrument yet, but I'd like to come sometime." He nods and says nothing further.

"And I love karaoke, tending my bonsai trees, and drumming." Cousin Kihaku flips over so that she's lying on her back. "Tou-san likes to play poker with our more distant cousins, and smoke cigars in the evenings."

"And my Tou-san likes calligraphy and painting." Cousin Shin adds. "He's rather quiet and meek to be honest. Not sure why Kaa-san likes him so much."

It sounds like the rhythms of a family that I'd never learned. _But I will learn. I will learn all about them, so they never think that I'm an outsider ever again._ I had not thought that what I'd thought to be a rather lackluster greeting was simply them trying to give me the space that I'd been projecting that I'd wanted.

Now that I ask, they are willing to tell me so many little details about everyone that I hadn't thought to ask or know about. We talked. We laughed. And I shared information about myself as well.

"I like to drink tea with Sensei and the boys. I learned how to apply makeup from Kiho-baachan. I want to join the Military Police, and I'm very fond of puppies." I drum my fingers along the edge of the hospital mattress. "I like to read, and learn about chakra theory."

"Hmmm..." Cousin Kosha leans forwards. "That means you've learned your chakra nature already, right? Which one do you have?"

"Doton and Raiton." I reply.

"Oh that's special." Cousin Shin sighs and leans back. "None of us have two affinities. We're mostly Doton users." He nudges Cousin Kihaku. "Except for this one here, she's a Katon user."

Cousin Kihaku smacks him on the shoulder. "Oh hush, you."

* * *

It's my uncles that come in next, and at the sight of them, my cousins sigh. "Well, we'll see you later." Cousin Kosha calls. "Make sure to come down to our music session sometime soon, alright?"

I nod back. "I'll try."

Uncle Teiru fades into the background even as he walks forwards, as if he's walking in Uncle Kegawa's shadow.

"You'll be leading the clan." Uncle Kegawa says, finally after staring at me very hard. "And I don't like it much."

"What Niisan meant to say," Uncle Teiru ventures rather timidly. "Is that he is upset that you've scarred Kotsu-chan's face and not your own." _Her face is scarred?_

"I didn't mean for that to occur, Uncle." I comment. _You were the one who concocted the mad plan to begin with. You cannot possibly blame me for the outcome._

"I am well aware." His lips twitch. "I can however be upset with both you and Tsu-chan." _So it's back to Tsu-chan then, when it was Little Tsume before._

He turns and leaves.

Uncle Teiru stays behind. "Are you alright, Hana-hime?" There's something timid about Uncle Teiru, something hesitant. Not as if he is afraid of the world beyond his doorstep, but something else. I think back to Cousin Shin's words. _He's rather quiet and meek to be honest. It wasn't an overstatement._

"I will be soon." I respond and for a moment I think I see a small relieved smile on his lips before it disappears.

"Please forgive Niisan." He whispers, and bows to me as if this is perfectly normal. "He was very close with your Kaa-san before she eloped with Kaito-san, and there were some harsh words exchanged between parties during the official wedding. The slate isn't clean between them, and it seems you've inherited their struggle." I hadn't know that before either, but Kaa-san had to have been close to the pack at some point in her life. The pack is a tight knit group for the most part, and Kaa-san had been born daughter of a clan head.

Today is a day of revelations it would seem. _And really, Kaa-san isn't so very different from Uncle Kegawa in terms of personality. I suppose it's why they've held a grudge with each other for over a decade._

"I'll attempt to." I offer.

And he looks even more relieved now. "That's good. That's good. Give it your best shot please." And then he too is gone.

* * *

And since our clan conflict is, for the most part, settled-all besides Uncle Kegawa who is unsurprisingly, not a big fan of me-I turn my attention back to Koma-senpai, and it is for that reason that I head down to Toku's house in the compound the day after I'm released from the hospital.

It is Haya-senpai that greets me with tea and mochi out on a dais by the courtyard. "Tokuma-kun isn't home right now, Hana-chan."

"I know." I reply with a sip of my tea. "I'm here to talk to Koma-senpai." _Or, well, I'm here to figure out what is going on with Koma-senpai._

Haya-senpai sets her tea cup down, and carefully daubs her lips with a handkerchief. She makes me feel ungainly by comparison, but it's not her fault. She was raised with grace in mind. I grew up wrestling with the Triplets. "Koma-niisan is speaking to Hideya-sama."

"Who's that?" I'd never heard of Hyuga Hideya, and I have no idea why Koma-senpai would care to speak to him.

"Elder Hideya is Hiashi-sama's Chichi-ue." Haya-senpai says carefully. "He is the former clan head of the Hyuga, and he deserves great respect."

 _Is Haya-senpai afraid of Hyuga Hideya?_ "Oh, I see."

There's something lurking in the depths of Haya-senpai's lilac eyes. "Koma-niisan has confessed that he is afraid." She says at last. "And if he is afraid, I am as well."

I lay my hand over hers. "I'm sure it will be fine." _I do not know that, but Haya-senpai has never been afraid before._

A scream rises through the still air. Haya-senpai's Byakugan is active in the space of a moment without a single hand sign. _Then Toku was right. His sister is the strong one._ "Niichan." She whispers, her eyes fixed on something happening deep within the house.

She's rising from the table a moment later, mannerisms lost and throw to the wayside a moment later. A lady does not run in her kimono, but she is running now. "Niichan!"

I follow her, half a beat behind, tea forgotten.

* * *

Haya-senpai throws herself through a doorway as she slides the screen open hastily. "Please, Hideya-sama! He is my only twin." There's a sob in her voice, and I still can't see what's happening.

I rush forward. The scene I find in the doorway has me frozen in my tracks.

Koma-senpai is kneeling on the floor, sweat beading on his forehead, which he has never kept covered. The seal is glowing. There's a line of blood trickling down the corner of his mouth and dripping off his chin onto the tatami mat. He's bitten through his bottom lip. His hands are clenched. Haya-senpai kneels in front of him, her eyes filling with tears. "Please, Hideya-sama, Niisan did not mean to offend."

The old man in front of them has his hands underneath the table. Hyuga Hiashi and another woman sits next to them. There's tea on the table.

And all three of them do not have seals on their foreheads. _Main House. Branch House._

On the other side are Hideta-san and Reichiru-san. They are frozen. _Main House. Branch House._

 _A family cut apart by birth order. Main House. Branch House._

"Step aside, girl." Hideya rumbles. "Step aside."

Haya-senpai shakes her head. "He is my brother. Please, spare him. I'll do anything. Please."

Koma-senpai sets a hand on her shoulder, and speaks despite the fact that he looks ready to fall over. "Haya, step aside."

"No!" And a second scream rises into the air. I cannot step forward. I cannot watch Koma-senpai's face crumple as he cradles Haya-senpai. I cannot watch. I cannot see. _Why? What did he do that was so wrong?_

I sway, and I see red.

Teacups shatter against the floor, and I'm standing in front of that table, with three members of what have to be the worst people in the human race. _Hinata is the offspring of these three? It is a mercy that she survived to age fifteen. It is a wondrous miracle that she lived past age five._

"What are you doing?" I do not entirely realize that I'm the one who says this. "What do you _think you're doing, Hyuga-sama_?"

Hideya-sama's expression shifts from bored to furious. "Who do you think you are to question the Hyuga, little girl?"

I bare my teeth. "I am a queen, and they are _my pack._ " I'd been acknowledged as such. I will grow up to be the ruling queen of the pack. I had earned that right by fire.

He raises a hand as if to strike me, but it does not descend.

"Go on." I smile at him, a grin with every last one of my fangless teeth. "Go on. Strike me, Hyuga-sama, I dare you. You will not live to see the sunrise." I take a step forward. "The pack hunts in the dark." And I'm burning bridges, burning, burning, burning, but I do not care. "I will be the Queen Mother of the Inuzuka, and when I am the first one I am hunting is _you._ "

It will probably give Kaa-san a headache and a half to deal with these Hyugas now that I've opened my mouth, now that I've dared the most senior member of their clan face to face, but Hyuga Hideya is no Kami, and I have talked back to gods.

"You have no business here, girl." Hideya sets down his hand. "Get out."

I turn to Hiashi, Hyuga Hiashi who is as still as stone. "You lost a twin, Hyuga-sama." I jerk my head in the direction of Koma-senpai and Haya-senpai. "They are twins who love each other far more than you ever loved your brother." I slam my hands on the table before him. "You _let your brother die, Hyuga-sama. Think about the cross you carry._ " I do not spare the woman at the table another glance. She is not worthy of the attention.

Koma-senpai's eyes are closed when I turn back to him, but it does not mean that he cannot see. "Please, Hana-chan. Don't make this harder."

I don't understand. I do not understand, until I do. _I've talked back to both the former clan head, and the current clan head. I have doomed them further. They cannot hurt me, but they can hurt Koma-senpai, they can hurt Haya-senpai, and Hideta-san, and Reichiru-san, and Toku. Kami._ The thought brings me to my knees.

"I will be merciful." Hideya rises. "All five of you will remain within the protection of the Hyuga Clan." He turns to go. "I trust you understand your duty, boy."

Koma-senpai nods, his eyes still closed. "I understand."

Hideya glances over his shoulder at the scene in the room. "And Hideta, discipline your children. All three of them are disappointments." He sneers dismissively. "Your elder boy was the only point of pride you could scrap together, and he's proven disobedient at last." _Haya-senpai is a medic, and she became a medic after she lost teammates. Toku is an infiltration specialist, and he does not act like a Hyuga ought. And now Koma-senpai has disobeyed orders and asked that the clan help him._

 _I did not know that the Hyuga Clan considered them disappointing._

Hideta-san bows his head. "As you command, Hideya-sama." And it does not feel as though he would ever be able to raise his head or straighten his shoulders ever again. _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry._

Hyuga Hiashi is the next to rise. He sets a hand on the arm of the woman I assume to be his wife. "I will have to speak to your Haha-ue, Inuzuka Hana." They sweep from the room together.

The thought of Kaa-san doesn't scare me the slightest, but I'd made such a mess of things. _Why didn't I keep my mouth shut? They might have been willing to hear Koma-senpai out if I didn't say anything._

 _How could I watch him like that though? How?_ Koma-senpai has always been strong, stronger than me. He'd been as proud as a mountain, to have seen him reduced today, to have seen him punished like chattel...I couldn't watch.

I glare at the doorway where the three Main House Hyugas had passed. _You have earned my wrath. One day you'll get the Karma you've been spreading._

I help Hideta-san and Reichiru-san remove Koma-senpai and Haya-senpai from the floor, and guide them back to their rooms. "I'm sorry." I whisper.

Reichiru-san turns back to me with tired eyes. "Don't stop coming, Hana-chan." She runs the back of her hand down my tear stained cheek. "Hideya-sama will forgive us when Koma-kun serves Elder Shimura." And I can see how much she does not want this, but there's no choice is there? "Please don't stop coming, Toku loves you so." That makes me feel worse.

There's no choice at all. _And perhaps this is my fault._

 _Koma-senpai had asked me what to do, and I gave him what I had the freedom to do._

 _He did not have that freedom._

* * *

Kaa-san is waiting for me by the gate when I arrive home. "Do you want to tell me why Hyuga Hiashi of all people showed up at the clan head meeting today furious with the conduct of my daughter?" Her face is a freezing Arctic winter.

"The Hyugas are enslaving their own family members." I respond. "That's not how family works!"

"That's not how _our_ family works." Kaa-san sighs, and runs a hand through her long and wild hair. "You can't just go around screaming at clan heads and former clan heads, Hana."

"They were _wrong._ " And I can still see Koma-senpai's face twisting with such agonizing pain, still see Haya-senpai trying to shield her elder brother. "They were punishing someone because they asked a basic question." And freedom is a basic human right. The freedom to choose is what gave each person their own fate. Hyuga Hiashi hadn't even flinched when his father took that away from his own relatives.

"They were not wrong!" Kaa-san leans forwards and holds my shoulders, pinning me with a furious look. "You cannot question what goes on inside other people's clans, Hana!"

"They were!" I scream back and pull myself away from Kaa-san's grasp. "They were wrong, and you're just too afraid to deny it." And then I turn and flee towards my favorite training field. _Why doesn't Kaa-san do anything? Why is she yelling at me when I know that I shouldn't have done it? I could not stand aside even if it ruins our relations with the Hyugas._

But there are still tears in my eyes. Hot, stinging tears. _Why doesn't Kaa-san think that it's wrong?_

* * *

I punch the training post, and the top half of it smokes. Had it been a person it would be electrocuted to the point of just twitching on the ground. Raiton is destructive enough when I'm just pointing chakra at things and watching them sizzle.

I suppose adding Doton would cause it to explode rather violently as the two chakra natures fought each other for control of the jutsu.

But I don't want to think about the theory of chakra natures and combination chakra natures right now. I want to forget about everything that Kaa-san has said about accepting the inner workings of other people's clans as things you can't change. I don't want to think at all.

I punch the post again, and it smokes even more violently than before. I can hardly see it through the tears. I punch it again.

And again, and again, and again.

"THAT IS NOT PARTICULARLY YOUTHFUL!"

I turn around to find Gai of all people standing in his Nice Guy Pose complete with the sunset and the white ping off his teeth. "I'm not feeling particularly youthful." I reply. "I'm not sure I want to be youthful."

He gasps. "THat IS NevEr tHE ANSWER YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM OF SPRINGTIME!" He sits down on the top of an adjacent training post. "YOU MUST NEVER GIVE UP YOUR YOUTH!"

"I watched someone I loved like a brother get tortured by his family members today." I state flatly. "And then I stuck my big mouth in it and made it all worse." I glance up and Gai, and then punch my training post again. "I don't feel youthful in the slightest."

"Everyone makes mistakes." He says at a normal volume.

I'm so shocked I stop punching. "What?"

"EVeryOne mAKES MISTAKES, YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM!" He responds. "And you can't help that."

Could Gai be serious without being Gai-like? Is it even possible? "I don't have to feel good about it." I respond and sit down on the ground in front of his training post. "Why are you here, Gai-san?"

He smiles and gives me a thumbs up. "I AM HERE TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON MAKING A NEW FRIEND!"

 _Wait. Is he talking about himself? Is he my new friend?_ "Bwah?"

He laughs, loudly. "CONGRATULATIONS INUZUKA HANA-CHAN! KAKASHI IS YOUR VERY GOOD FRIEND!"

 _What. WHAT? Kakashi? He's a troll though, and he never wants any friends._ "I think you're reading too much into it, Gai-san. Kakashi-san doesn't like me much at all." _Or, well, he shouldn't. The last time we met about a week ago I hit his forehead with mine and screamed at the sight of him. And the time before that I told him he wasn't wonderful and I was busy..._

 _Oh dear. That doesn't sound good now that I think about it._

"No. No." Gai waves his hands around. "You are a very good friend of his." I'm getting the feeling that the more serious Gai is, the quieter he gets. "He likes you a great deal."

"Prove it." I cross my arms over my chest. "I don't feel like Kakashi-san likes me much at all."

Gai considers it. "HE BOUGHT A SECOND CHAIR JUST FOR YOU!" He announces.

"He bought a second chair because people actually started to visit his apartment." I respond. At least, that's why I assume that Hatake Kakashi has a second chair.

"No he said that there was a puppy who would want a chair when I asked." Gai nods to himself as if this makes the most perfect sense in the world. "He was adamant that only the puppy was supposed to sit in it."

 _Kakashi...bought another chair for his apartment because he expected me to sit in it?_ This somehow just made me feel worse. _I've been neglecting him for two whole months now._

I brush off my shorts and stand up. "Thank you for reminding me, Gai-san." I bow in his direction, because that is only polite and I am not devoid of manners. "I will endeavor to mend my relationship with Kakashi-san."

He smiles at me. "I AM SURE MY HIP AND COOL RIVAL WILL ALWAYS FORGIVE YOU FOR ANYTHING!"

 _I doubt that, Gai-san. I doubt that very much._

* * *

 **A.N.** So in this chapter we get a sort of meeting between Tsume and Kakashi, a look into the mindsets of the other Inuzukas, Hana realizing that she'd actually turned down countless invitations to get to know them better, and more hints regarding the very controversial Kaito. (He's the linchpin to so many things despite being so very dead.) And Hyuga family drama. So much Hyuga drama that it goes through the ceiling. (I don't hate Hyugas. They are simply very archaic and this causes problems.) Tsume and Hana have a disagreement and Hana realizes that perhaps she made a few mistakes regarding Kakashi.

Thank you to LadyScatty (I realized that you write in French when writing your own work, is that your native tongue? Because you've been doing a phenomenal job of writing your reviews in English. And yes, we get some more insight into the many Inuzukas and a bit more Kakashi this chapter.), WhiteFang001 (Yep! Hana the Heiress. Hana-hime is officially a thing now after about 40 chapters.), Missfroogy (I believe Kiba was attempting not to get crushed by the crowd while worrying his little heart out.), Chi-chan (Welcome to Bloodless! I'm so glad you like it!), Sis (I fixed it. It's better now.), rickrossed (Hana does love her mother quite a lot. And yes, all of the Inuzukas and ,weirdly enough, Kakashi speak to dogs.), CannibalisticApple (Thank you so much for recommending, and I'm glad you liked the headcanon.) and Estarc (Well now we know a little more from their perspective. Tsume was rather defensive of her family back when Hana was much younger, and Kaito didn't understand a lot of what was going on, and Hana was happily oblivious. They interpreted it differently, but they're moving back to understanding now. Perhaps the decade long feud will end.), and ninetytwochairsonetable (Hana used to have short hair...until she got mistaken for Rin by Kakashi.) for reviewing!

And everyone else who favorited and followed.

~Tavina.


	43. Clan Heiress Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I could not simply turn up at Kakashi's apartment without something to offer him. _Would he understand apology flowers? It might be better to not offer him flowers that mean apologies. He probably doesn't know that one._

I stride towards the Yamanaka Flower Shop. "White tulips? Would he even care for flowers?" Knowing Kakashi, he'd probably care about food, but I didn't want to go home, and I certainly couldn't visit Toku's house. "Sensei's house?" I mumble, but no, Kiho-baachan disliked having other people cooking in her kitchen. She would allow Sensei to crush garlic on occasion, but anyone else touching her knives, her appliances, no. There would be a major freak out session.

Very well then, I'd buy takeout. I don't feel good about it, but I could not show up without food. It wouldn't feel _right_ , somehow.

What would Kakashi eat anyway? He didn't seem to dislike much of anything. And there's a food cart across the street. "Could I get something to go, Jiisan?"

The old man behind the counter smiles. "What would you like?"

"Could I have your special?" I don't really know what to get. Between the number of houses I could visit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, not to mention Mufu-an, I don't really ever eat street food in Konoha.

"Ah, the tempura then, any specific type?"

I glance up at the menu...shrimp, kabocha, shiitake, fish, eggplant. _Eggplant is his favorite food._ "Eggplant." I reply. "And I suppose shrimp for me. Two orders to go, please, Jiisan."

He wraps the two orders separately and I hand over several bills. At least I had sorted the food situation. _Now. Flowers._

"White tulips for forgiveness and worthiness? Wrapped in Ivy for longevity? That would probably be best. If he didn't know about it, I could always explain.

* * *

I step through the door of the Yamanaka Flower Shop with the tinkling of bells. A young Ino is watering potted plants in a corner. At the sight of a customer, she bounces over. "How are you doing today?"

"Alright..." I am not alright, but she's still a child the same age as Kiba. It would be unfair to tell her about all of my unfortunate troubles. _The Hyuga. Kaa-san. My unfortunate issues with Hatake Kakashi._

"And you have food too. Two orders, are you eating with someone else?" She peers up at me with her big teal eyes.

I feel as though my soul is being examined under a very large magnifying glass. The idea is very uncomfortable, especially since she's four. "Yes. I am going to eat dinner with someone else."

"Ooh!" She claps her hands together. "Is it a boy?" _Inoichi-san, what are you teaching this child? She is four._

"Yes. He has silver hair." I whisper. _And only one eye uncovered, and he has a scar and a very very symmetrical face. If you could actually see his face when you're older he'd probably be just your type. Pretty, broody, and broken._ I pause to consider it for a moment. _Although perhaps the idea that he's started to read porn in public and is about thirteen to fourteen years older than you would be a turn off._

"He must be old then." Ino decides. "That's so boring!" She pouts up at me. "Why do you want flowers for an old man anyway?" She twirls around in a circle. "Flowers are for people you love!"

I burst out into laughter. _Kakashi? Old? He's only what? Nearly eighteen? Oh I have to tell him this story._ "Can I not love an old person?" Love is not why I am buying flowers, but the idea that old people didn't deserve flowers is a bit disconcerting. And just plain dumb.

"Oh, Hana-chan." Inoichi-san sweeps into the front of the room. "What's so funny, Cosmos?" He pokes Ino's cheek, and smiles. "Tell me why Hana's laughing."

Ino pouts and crosses her arms over her chest. "Hana wants to get flowers for some old guy with gray hair and when I told her that it's silly to love old people she started laughing her head off."

 _Well, if you put it that way, I sound like an idiot._ "It's Hatake Kakashi." I clarify for the raised eyebrows Inoichi-san sends me. "He's not that old."

Inoichi-san whistles. "Well, he is...hmmm...eight or nine years older than you." He grins at me. "Didn't think you'd be admiring the Hatake Prodigy, Hana-chan."

I blush from my neck to the roots of my hair. "I'm sending him apology flowers for ignoring him for two months!" I wave my hands around. "I do not like him." And I don't. _Kakashi is awful and a troll._

"Sure. Sure. And you think the sky is green, and your dogs are awful." He straightens up. "Which flowers?"

"White tulips wrapped in ivy." It is probably the best option. There aren't any ostentatious colors and the bouquet would convey everything that I intended anyway.

"Perfect love for all eternity?" Now on second thought, this is a horrible idea. Inoichi leans towards me. "Are you sure you don't like him?"

"No..." I moan. "Forgiveness and worthiness wrapped in longevity, Inoichi-san."

He pats my head. "Sure. That's exactly what you mean."

* * *

Following the debacle about flowers, I find that it's almost too humiliating to show up at his apartment. _Would he think that this thing means perfect love for all eternity?_ I shudder just thinking about it.

 _What will I do if that's how he takes it? Throw myself in the Naka River?_

Eventually though, I square my shoulders and set off into the afternoon. "I can't be this stupid. Of course, he wouldn't think of it that way. I'm being really stupid."

I rap politely on his door this time, instead of attempting to break it down. "Kakashi-san?" There's no reply. _Maybe he's out?_ I pull chakra towards my nose.

 _No, he isn't out. That's the smell of wet dog, faint scent of blood, and...him. He's in there. Is he ignoring me?_ "Kakashi-san? Stop ignoring me please? I'm sorry."

There is still no reply. I sit down on his doorstep. _He has to come out sometime._ There's the tapping of nails on the wooden floorboards and then Pakkun's voice from behind the door. "Please break the door down." He sounds a little worried, but I'm not sure I heard him properly.

"What?" _Did he just tell me to break Kakashi's door down? Wouldn't that make him more mad at me?_

"Please break the door down." Pakkun repeats. "Boss has locked it from the inside and he's getting really bad."

That...tells me absolutely nothing. Except of course, that I would need to break the door down. _Okay...then._

I examine the door. _"_ Now. I don't want to do lasting damage to this. How should I attempt to remove it?" _I can't pick locks. That's very not ninja of me. I will have to learn that for later._ "Pakkun?" I ask. "Does he have traps on the windows?" Sure, there's only all of two windows in his entire apartment, and one of them is over his bed so I don't want to crawl in that one since it definitely has traps.

"Yes. Boss has traps on the windows." _Well, that's paranoid ninja for you right there._

"I'm assuming you can't unlock the door by yourself?" It doesn't hurt to ask.

"No, I can't reach and no one else knows how." Pakkun replies.

"Can anyone else reach? Maybe you could tell them how?" If I didn't have to break down the door, I shouldn't. _If I break down the door, he'll need a new door._

"No. They're all stupid from hunger." Pakkun sighs. "I'm the only sane one left."

"Just how long has Kakashi-san been in there?" _Did he run out of dog food? Is his refrigerator all sad again?_

"About a week." _That's too long. What's he been doing in there and why isn't he at the door to be a troll yet?_

Pakkun had said his condition was bad. Is bad. "What side of the door are the hinges on?" I ask.

"The left side." _So the right side for me then._

I set down the tempura and the flowers. "Step back, like six feet away from the door, Pakkun." I call and listen as he obediently moves away.

I push as much lightning chakra as I can towards my finger tips and ram them onto the right side of the door. Predictably, the lightning finds the metal as it is the path of least resistance. _If I can just melt the hinges off, I can reshape them later, maybe. He won't have to replace the entire door._

 _And this way, since metal conducts, I don't have to worry so much about electrocuting my hands again._ "The metal is melting." Pakkun reports from the other side of the door.

I stop wasting chakra. With my left hand curls into a fist and I tap the door. It falls down, and I cough. _He's definitely not opened the door or the windows in a week. The air's stale in here._

I pick up the two peace offerings I'd brought, and step over the threshold. The very air is gloomy. "So what's wrong with him?"

"You brought food?" Pakkun eyes the takeout bag I have with obvious interest. "Could you share?"

"I bought him eggplant tempura." I offer. "You can have mine? It's shrimp." If he hasn't eaten in a week he probably needs to.

"Boss hates tempura." Guruko offers.

I sigh. "It figures." I set the bag of takeout on the floor and unlatch the boxes. The dogs pile around.

Then, still armed with flowers, I head off towards his room, and pray that I do not have to melt the hinges off the door a second time.

* * *

As it turns out, Kakashi is, in fact, that paranoid. I melt a second set of hinges with a deal more effort than the first, and the heavy oak door falls down with a dull thump. I step over the threshold into what might have been a neat room at some point. There's several sets of ANBU uniforms littered over the floor, sharp kunai, a shuriken embedded in the wall...It looks like he's lost his mind to be honest.

Kakashi may or may not be passed out on his bed, but at least he's alive. I set the flowers on the thing that passes for his dresser and possibly bedside table. _He's still in his ANBU uniform, just minus the armor._

 _Where did he go, what did he do, and how did he end up like this?_

I press a hand to his forehead. _Fever. Definitely high._ I turn to check if he has a medicine cabinet and if so, if he had any antibiotics or at least something besides soldier pills. I do not get that far.

A hand latches onto my wrist. _I swear if you even say Rin, I will tell the hospital to come and get you. No mercy._

"Why're you here?"

He hasn't said Rin just yet though, so I do my best not to get angry at him. "Let go of my wrist, Kakashi-san. I'm going to go find you some water."

He blinks at me. "Didn't you say you were _busy_ , Hana-chan?" _Oh, so he does remember who I am. That's a shock._ And as I suspected, he is not pleased with me.

"We can talk about that later." _Later when you don't look like you're about to die._ I pull my hand from his hold and wander off to find a mug and the kitchen sink.

* * *

I pass Kakashi a cup of water when I get back. I also set down that one mismatched chair by his bedside. "Sick people should stay hydrated." I murmur. He'd winced before, when I'd spoken at a normal tone, which meant that he is either feeling guilty or that he has a headache or probably both. "Also, I'm very sorry, but I had to break down two doors to get to you."

He raises an eyebrow, and I gesture towards the door of his bedroom. "As you can see, I melted the hinges off the door, so the wood should still be salvageable, if you want to stick it back on later."

He settles back on his pillows and says nothing. He looks vaguely alright though, so it's probably safe to leave him to find some antibiotics at a corner store. I make for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" He's attempting to be commanding about something, but given that he is an invalid that could barely sit himself up without a great deal of effort, I think I'm justified to not listen to him.

"The corner store to find you some medicine that you despise." _And now it feels like I've fallen down the Rabbit Hole. Late. Late. Late. For a very important date, Alice._

* * *

Less than half an hour later, I'm back, with more dry dog food and what passes for Ibuprofen in this world. It comes in white tablets at least, and it doesn't have anything to do with quinolone as far as I am aware, but the people do accept it as medicine for the common cold, thus, I am willing to assume that it bears some resemblance.

I make sure to heat the water in the microwave this time. "Here." I offer. "You might want to take these so you don't die."

He glances up at me, the sharingan eye still firmly shut. "But what about the mask?"

I pull it off and throw it across the room before he has time to react. Granted, his reaction speed isn't great right now, I could probably kill him if I desired to do so very deeply, but for me to do it that easily meant that he has at least some measure of trust that I wouldn't stab him in the neck with a kunai. "You shouldn't even be wearing a mask when you have breathing difficulty." I mutter. "Please, at least know the basics of how to take care of a common cold if you hate hospitals so much, Kakashi-san."

His mouth curls upwards in the lazy semblance of a smile. "You have a terrible bedside manner, Hana-chan. You should never become a doctor."

My face falls into my hands of its own volition. "You're going to give me a headache at this rate." My eyes slide shut. "This has been an awful day."

* * *

I wake up the next morning in a bed. And as soon as I realize where I am, I scramble to get out of it as quickly as possible.

Kakashi...is sitting in the chair where I am sure I fell asleep, with a sleeping Pakkun on his lap, holding...that idiot bouquet of flowers that I'd brought. "Perfect love?" He asks as my feet find his floorboards.

"Forgiveness and worthiness." I counter. "And the ivy's for longevity." I glare at him from the corner of my eye. "And don't worry, Inoichi-san already teased me about all the possible alternate meanings."

He smiles, again, a full smile because he still hasn't put on a mask. "Did he?" He calmly strokes one of the wilting tulips. "Did he tell you that ivy also meant wedded bliss?" _Indeed. If I look around maybe I'll find a potion that says drink me. Am I Alice? Is that it?_

"Well." Replies my smart mouth. "Did you think I was congratulating you on your marriage to Gai-san?"

Kakashi looks poleaxed, but recovers with grace. His laughter rings out, rich and deep. _It's only the second time in six, nearly seven years, that I've heard Kakashi laugh._ "You're so cruel, Hana-chan." He pins me with a mock serious look. "I will have you know that I am very popular."

The words only bring to mind many min-Gais who all want to challenge him to some sort of duel surrounding his masked, soft core porn reading self. "No!" I shriek, and laugh until my sides split. "No, there can only ever be one Gai-san in the world or it'll implode!"

The idea of multiple Gais makes Kakashi look nauseous, and I can only imagine what the introduction of Lee to his life would do to him. I sit down on the floor and howl with laughter. _Oh the world will mock you yet, Hatake Kakashi. Take that you eternal troll._

* * *

And then there really is no help for it. I have to go home. _I wonder if Kaa-san is still mad at me._

 _I'm surprised that there was no searching party. I couldn't have been that hard to find._ The morning air is cold, and there's a light fall of snow on the ground. The first snowfall of the year, and mostly likely the last as the New Year and the traditional Winter Festival is fast approaching.

I step over the threshold, and suddenly I'm swept into Kaa-san's arms. "Do you know how worried I was when you didn't come home last night?" She whispers into my hair. And then she pulls back. "Did you spend the night with the Hatake Boy?" _Curse Kakashi for wrapping me in his blankets. That just makes me smell entirely like him, and there's no way for me to explain any of that to Kaa-san without it sounding cringe worthy._ There's a note of resignation in her voice. "You really want to add him to your pack don't you?" _More like he's been going out of his way to add me._

"I went to apologize to him because I'd been mean to him earlier." I protest. "And he was sick, and then I fell asleep." And I suppose I've made a friend in Hatake Kakashi, given that he has willingly added that second chair just for me, if Gai is to be believed.

"I can't say that I like it." Kaa-san sits down in a chair by the kitchen table. "I still have to talk to you about yesterday though."

I hope that we wouldn't have to. I really do, but problems don't solve themselves. I nod. "Yes, Kaa-san."

She runs a hand through her hair, and the burnt orange sunset of feathers gleam in the early morning light. "I tried once, you know, to change the dynamics of the Hyuga Clan." Her eyes are distant. "You have no idea how much I protested Hizashi's murder." _Kaa-san hadn't been that close to him. She'd said so, but still they had been a team._ "But it's more than that, Little Nose." And her shoulders are hunched, and while her expression is neutral her eyes are haunted. "You remember my genin teammates?" She asks.

"You told me they were dead, and you didn't want to talk about them." _She'd said she didn't like them either._

"I never liked Hikari or Hikasa." She frowns. "They'd always been too sullen." This collection of phrases didn't mean very much. They might have been a string of pearls in the morning sunlight, but none of it would truly matter. "They were twins. Branch House Hyuga twins. They failed a mission right before the third war, and they paid with their lives." And suddenly the parallels Kaa-san must have seen yesterday between me and her younger self are a little clearer now.

"You yelled at Hideya-sama for them." I say, and the horror dawns afresh. I could see it in my mind's eye. A young Kaa-san screeching some version of my speech at Hyuga Hideya, and two boys dying for the crime of being defended by a young Inuzuka. _What horror that must have been._ And suddenly I am only terribly grateful that the years have taught Hideya to be a shade more merciful. _What would I have done if Hideya had killed Koma-senpai and Haya-senpai?_

"They weren't going to die, but he was angry." Kaa-san sets her head in her hands. "I was there when they were tortured. It was not...not pretty, but he didn't kill them until I left. Their deaths were marked as an accident, but I knew that Hyuga Hideya's hand was in it." _Kaa-san had grown up with them even if she wasn't close to them. They had been important somehow._ "I didn't want you to make the same mistakes I did." The corner of her mouth pulls upwards. "But I suppose that you are as much my daughter as you are Kai-baka's. Sometimes you don't look before you leap."

And why Kaa-san had been so angry with my actions is so horrifyingly clear. "You didn't want me to know that my actions had caused the death of someone I cared for."

"No, Little Nose. How could I let that be a cross you bear?"

* * *

That afternoon, Kiba pulls me down to the kennels towards the puppies. "Come on, Neechan! Kaa-san agreed to let me have a puppy!" He turns towards me, and my somewhat horrified thoughts. "Is there something wrong?"

I manage a smile for him. _This day is a happy occasion for Kiba-chan. I can't ruin it for him._ "No, why would there be?" I ruffle his hair. "Can you think of anything wrong?"

"Neechan being sad." He says, and crosses his arm. "Neechan being sad is wrong." _My sweet little brother, oh how you've grown._

"I will not be sad." I say. "And you need a new puppy."

But he is still a child, and the thought of a puppy has him bouncing down the street again. "A puppy! A puppy!" He crows. "I get a puppy of my own!"

The clan members that we pass wave and smile at us, and Kiba takes it as a sign of great things to come. He grabs my hand and tows me down towards the kennels. "Come Neechan! The puppies are waiting!" _The clan is open at last._

 _They will treat Kiba to the childhood he deserves._

* * *

When we enter the kennels one of the white puppies detaches himself from the crowd of little white puppies and comes racing towards us. "Boy! Boy! Boy!"

Kiba turns to me. "Can I pick him?"

I'm caught in the flash back of meeting the Triplets and their wide eyed and eager attention. _New friend? New friend? Play!_ "Is he your friend, Kiba-chan?" I ask.

Kiba nods. "Can hear him best of all the puppies. He says 'Boy! Boy! Boy!"

"You'll have to tell him your name." I pat the white puppy on the head. _Your name will be Akamaru soon._ "Then he'll know to call you that."

Kiba turns toward the puppy. "I'm Kiba." He announces. "What's your name?"

The puppy tilts his head to the side. "Name?"

Kiba looks back at me. "What's his name?" _He wants me to name his puppy?_

"Akamaru." I crouch down to pat the puppy in the head. "Your name is Akamaru."

"Akamaru?" He barks, and stares at me with large, intelligent eyes. "Who're you?"

Ichi steps in front of me. "Hana's mine." Ni bumps my left hip. "And mine!" San crowds around my other side. "And mine!"

"You guys!" I protest. "He's just a little puppy."

Ichi glances at me with a sage expression. "Little puppies become big puppies and then they stop being puppies. And then they want to own things." He sniffs. "Like those awful dogs that the Irritant has." _Kakashi's ninken? Did the Triplets talk with Pakkun, Guruko and the rest of Kakashi's pack?_

"You still shouldn't be mean." I card my fingers through his fur behind his ears. "You're my brothers. Nothing will ever change that."

Kiba picks Akamaru up, and tucks him close to his chest. "At any rate." He announces, very seriously. "Akamaru's mine!"

I laugh. "Yes, Kiba-chan. Akamaru is your partner."

* * *

Later that week, I'm reading theory about how to combine chakra natures from a book that's chunin clearance level from the Archives at my favorite childhood training ground. Tou-san's notes are spotty, and I get the feeling that the entirety of his work elsewhere, probably his own head, because he had never expected me to learn only from his notes until he was on his deathbed. _He probably wanted to teach me himself._ The thought does not sting as much as it would have just a few years ago.

"So chakra natures can be combined in a rudimentary fashion by collecting one type of chakra in one hand, and then combining it with the other type of chakra in the other hand." But it does require that I be able to channel two different chakra natures at once. I have yet to manage the ability to split my focus and push earth chakra towards one hand and lightning chakra towards the other.

I'm still musing upon the problem when Koma-senpai interrupts. "Hana-chan?"

He doesn't look _good._ But he does look better than the last time I'd seen him. "Koma-senpai?" I stand up rather quickly and rush over towards him. "Are you alright? Do you need something?"

He laughs softly at my eagerness. "I will be fine, Hana-chan. I need to ask for your help." He takes me by the shoulders, but his grip is loose enough that I could pull away at any time. "You're the only one who can help me."

 _What help does he need that I can give him?_ "How?" I ask.

"Follow me." He straightens and begins to lead me towards the Forest of Death. "We have to go to a different training ground for this." And I am confused, but I follow. _This is Koma-senpai. Whatever it is that he wants it cannot be that bad._

* * *

We end up at what must be a clearing that he'd already made somewhere close to the edge of the training field. "You'll have to take me to Konoha General after this." He smiles ruefully at me. "I'm sorry you have to see this Hana-chan. Wait half an hour here with me."

And then he pulls out a kunai and very deliberately slashes it over both of his eyes. The action is so quick I don't have any time to react. The very next moment he gouges out one eye with his bare hands and rips chakra enhanced scratches across that portion of his face. "KOMA-SENPAI!" I shriek and race forwards. _He's cut them too deeply. He needs medical help if he ever wants to see again even in just the eye that's still in his head._

 _If he ever wants to see again._

He grabs onto my elbows. "I'm very sorry, Hana-chan." But his hold is strong. I am unable to twist away, and here in the Forest of Death there is no way that anyone would hear us. His face looks like it has been mauled.

"Why are you doing this?"

His eyes are still weeping tears of blood. It trails down his cheeks and his chin and drips down onto the forest floor in what seems like rivers. It's a ticking countdown of minutes and seconds until no one, not even the head practitioner at Konoha General can repair the damage he's done to his eyes. The feeling is almost surreal. _Is he crazy? He won't ever be able to see again at the end of half an hour._

"Hana-chan." He says, and he's perfectly calm. "Please, sit down and wait with me." He wipes away some of the blood. "I'll pass out before thirty minutes is up. He sighs. "It is very painful, but listen to me, Hana-chan. If you want to help me you have to drag me out of here in twenty minutes, not before." And then he pulls me closer to him so I don't have to see his weeping eyes. "I am choosing my family." He announces very carefully. "I cannot serve in ANBU if I am blind." _He's willing to blind himself if it means he doesn't serve Danzo?_

"You can't see when you're blind either!" I do not protest his hold on me though. I do not want to see what he has done to himself because I am not strong enough to help him. _I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Koma-senpai. You're driven to do this because I've failed you._

He laughs, and even his laughter is soft. "I am asking you to tell a lie for me, Hana-chan." His voice is weaker now. "I was here training. I was mauled by a bear. They will not believe that." And it's only now that I notice the dead bear on the other side of the clearing. " They will believe that I have set this up on purpose, but there's no real proof beyond what they believe. And you had a meeting with me here, that's why you are here to drag me back to Konoha General, but it will be too late. That's why you're covered with blood." _He's planned for everything. And I can understand his devotion to family._

"Koma-senpai, are you sure?" The fact that Koma-senpai is entrusting me with the rest of his life weighs heavily. The fact that he, the upstanding and prideful senpai, is asking me to tell a lie for him weighs even worse. There are only ten minutes left. If I ran, I could still make the threshold. I could drag him back. They would have a good chance of saving his eyes.

"Yes." He whispers, and then I know that he's no longer conscious. I can make it back. _I can make it back. And it would doom him to serving Danzo._

 _Can I save his eyes and kill his soul?_

I knew what service to Danzo would do to him. He would become exactly the same as every mindless ROOT Ninja, doomed to commit subversive acts against Konoha's welfare. I knew that he didn't want that fate.

He has taken the last option he and I could see open to him. _I will help you, Koma-senpai. For you, for Toku, for Haya-senpai and your parents, I will tell this lie._

 _But this is my failure. This is my cross to bear. This is my price._

My heart hardens. _Shimura Danzo. One day I will see you cast down, and all that you have built torn apart._

 _This is my vow to you._

I stand, at the end of thirty minutes, and I begin the run back to Konoha General, Koma-senpai slung over my shoulders.

* * *

Our arrival creates panic inside the hospital, and Haya-senpai is clearly distraught, but over Koma-senpai's prone form she flashes me a grateful smile, and mouths the words thank you with more feeling than the story that I've yet to tell would deserve.

And I know, in that moment, that Koma-senpai did not act alone. He'd at least entrusted his beloved twin with the truth of his actions.

I could only nod before I am hustled off to the Hokage's office.

"Hyuga Koma has gone blind." The Hokage pins me with a stern look through the steam from his pipe.

"They cannot save his eyes?" I ask. _This is my part to play. They do not expect an Inuzuka capable of duplicity._ "They really can't? Not with all the ability they have available to them?" I bury my face in my hands. "I should have been sooner. I'm so sorry, Hokage-sama. Koma-senpai wanted me to meet him but I was too caught up in my training, I missed the meeting time." The tears that I weep in the Hokage's office are frighteningly real, but they are more than tears of grief. _I wasn't strong enough. I wasn't strong enough, and now someone else has to pay the price._

"Inuzuka-chan." The Sandaime sets down his pipe, and clears his desk of papers. "This may be difficult for you to believe, but we do not believe that Hyuga Koma was mauled by a bear." _I know. I was there to see it._

I keep my head down. I sob. "But who else could it have been? Who else would have done something so terrible? Koma-senpai said it was the bear!" He did say it was the bear, that is a truth. My own eyes had _seen_ differently, but Koma-senpai had never said that his injuries were self inflicted.

"You were here once to tell me that you did not believe that Hyuga Koma thought it was an honor to serve Elder Shimura." _I did say that didn't I?_ "This injury makes it difficult for him to do that, doesn't it? Don't you know of any other way that the injury could have come about?"

"He was always proud of being ANBU." I whisper, and my hands clutch the edge of my seat until my knuckles are white. "He loved serving this village. His injuries now make it difficult for him to ever be a ninja again." I let my hair fall forwards. "He lived by the will of fire. He wanted to die for you." And that is true, but what is truer still is that Koma-senpai, if he could not accomplish any of those things, would prefer to choose his family. He would choose his family over the clan, but this is not an attack against the village. As far as I am concerned, all the ninjas in ROOT have lost the ability to call their actions working for the village. "How else would he have been injured?"

"And I truly regret his situation." The Sandaime steeples his hands over his desk, and he looks so old, so very tired. _He has led Konoha through two wars._ But I can feel so little sympathy for him. _And what is your regret made of?_

 _Is it like mine? Made of ashes and burned dreams?_ "I'm sure Koma-senpai would appreciate your concern, Hokage-sama."

"This must have been a harrowing experience for you as well." The old man under the hat sighs. "Make sure to take a few days off before you run another mission."

"Yes of course, Hokage-sama." I've been dismissed.

I rise and go

* * *

 **A.N.** A lot happens in this chapter. We have Hana and Kakashi interactions through the roof. (Check out the one shot regarding Kakashi POV in Ashen if you haven't already.) Tsume and some explanations for her actions last chapter. Kiba finally gets Akamaru. And Hyuga Koma, he needs about a lifetime of hugs for his actions. That and the Sandaime and Hana having a conversation. The Sandaime knows that what Koma did was a measure of protest and he's rather shocked at the extremes that his rather mild mannered ANBU Tiger has taken 'does not see it as an honor'. He does think that perhaps he needs to know why...but then Koma staged such a cover up that it is rather difficult to ask why.

Thank you to WhiteFang001 (As it turns out, the Hyuga drama did not come to a head last chapter. And the Kakashi weirdness is sort of addressed.), LadyScatty (Yep, well no murder has taken place this chapter. Hana does not get a break. And Kakashi is...almost kind, but still sufficiently a troll. Also, it's really cool that you're Algerian! I take French at school-I'm really bad at it though, so that's why it was interesting to me.), rickrossed (No, it's perfectly acceptable to hope that terrible things happen to Danzo. Most of the fandom hate him for very good reason. Koma does not get double sealed, whether his predicament now is better though...entirely debatable.), snidekick (I hope the Kakashi-Hana interactions were nice.), Fuchslady (On occasion FFnet doesn't say that the story is updated when it is. This is a thing for frequently updating stories, so just check to see if you've read the latest chapter or not. And I do think the Kakashi interactions were fun this chapter. I mean, what's there not to like about melting hinges off of doors?), Guest (Welcome to Bloodless!), libraryrockerr (Their scheming ends in tragedy this time. For Koma not for them.) and Yuki Sou (Welcome to Bloodless! I update rather fast.) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	44. Clan Heiress Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.** I'm putting this note at the beginning since I normally have a long one down at the bottom and I don't want this to get lost in the shuffle.

I will not be posting new chapters of anything this coming Saturday, Sunday, or Monday as of yet, I am uncertain about Friday as well. I have an obligation which takes me out of town, so less time for writing. If, by some stupid miracle I do manage to write a chapter over the weekend, I will post it. If not, we shall resume next week.

* * *

"Come on, Hana-hime. We have to understand how you want to look for the announcement!" Cousin Kosha pulls me down the hallway of her house. My uncle Kegawa's daughters had been given the monumental task of dressing me for the Winter Festival this year.

And they took the idea very seriously, which is why I am currently being dragged towards their lounge area so they could pester me with questions. "Does this really have to happen?" I ask her, because while it had been a month since Koma-senpai... _don't think about it so much._ I cannot be entirely happy. Failure weighs heavily when confronted with the massive weight it brings.

She turns to regard me very carefully with her hazel eyes. "Hana-hime. We are not ashamed of you, thus, it is very important that what you're wearing during the process symbolize what you want for the future of our pack." _Is that what this is? A declaration of what my position will be during my eventual reign? This must be tradition then._ And Kaa-san had never experienced it since her ascension was a sudden one, but I am sure that Kosshi-baasan did.

We tumble into the lounge area, where Kotsuzui and Kihaku are already waiting. Kotsuzui-"call me Kotsu" she'd said when we had met again-is scarred, and I regret it. _I am sorry I had to scar you._ I find that we are not on different sides of a conflict after all. We had hurt each other because we did not understand not because we wanted to. She didn't find the burn scar stretching from her temple to her lips down the left side of her face to be particularly damaging to our good relationship though, and I try not to act as though it is the end of the world. "Hana-hime!" She points to the veritable mountain of cushions. "Tell us about yourself and your dreams."

"I want to keep my people safe. I want them to know that there isn't anything I wouldn't do." After Koma-senpai it becomes increasingly clear that I needed every resource that I could get to protect the people I love. I could not simply grow stronger by learning more jutsu. There are forces within the village that would harm them that I have yet to have the power to change. _I will one day. One day I will be able to protect the people I call my own._

"Red then." Cousin Kihaku flips herself into a sitting position. "Blood red, more brilliant than the rising sun." She tilts her head to the side. "It'll match our fangs and be a symbol of a new reign." She pauses to consider it. "The obi might be better in orange though, as a symbol of luck and rebirth."

"It's a shame that you have such short hair now." Cousin Kosha sighs. "It limits expression, but then that might be better. We don't want the hairstyle to get in the way of the formal declaration." She turns towards Cousin Kihaku. "I don't think so, the obi is traditionally black and plain. We don't want to throw out all tradition. Hana-hime's going for an addition, not a complete uprooting."

"And the designs have to be in black." Cousin Kotsu adds. "I would consider either wolves or dragons for the kimono, and two chrysanthemums for your hair, one in black, the other in gold."

"Wolves for protection, power, and strength." I conclude. "Black for formality, and gold for refinement and chrysanthemums for nobility." And pairs, both designs and flowers would be in pairs, and only the red would stand alone. And red is the color of life. Five years ago, Tou-san and I flew a red kite. _And now I will learn to lead, to protect and defend._

 _Are you watching me now, Tou-san?_

"They'll hear you howl." Cousin Kihaku smiles, and her fangs gleam in the morning light. "I like it." She turns to her sisters. "We're the closest people Hana-hime has to sisters now. Collect Cousin Ashi, we need to get started."

Cousin Kosha runs off to find Cousin Ashi, and Cousin Kotsu turns to me. "Don't worry. We'll make sure that everything is in place. I'll coach you on what the ceremony is like."

I move my cushions over to her low divan. "I would like that." A peace offering made and accepted. _Uncle Kegawa probably taught her with her own ascension in mind, and now she's going to teach it to me. We'll go forward together._

* * *

The day of the Winter Festival dawns clear and cool with a cutting wind but no snow. The true festivities begin as the firecrackers outside every house in the compound starts going off as the red sun rises. According to Cousin Kosha, whom I've learned is just two years older than me at nearly twelve, this is a time honored tradition to announce a wedding, or an ascension. Inuzukas preferred spring weddings actually, and an ascension always took place the day of the Winter Festival.

And today is the day of my ascension. The clan spills out into the spokes of the wheel into the dusty paths. The younger children carry bells to ring in the new year. We'll join the festival inside the village later in the day, but this morning we troop to the clan shrine for the ceremony, and then to the cemetery to pay our respects to our ancestors.

I stand and watch from the window in Kihaku's room. She grabs me by the shoulders. "Come on, Hana-hime, we have to show you the kimono now." She considers it for a minute. "And we have to do your makeup in black and gold."

All that I know is that in the past week, they've worked on the project, on choosing the fabric, measuring me, cutting the silk cloth, and stitching all of the patterns and designs. They had purposefully kept it from me as much as possible, and this is the first time that I am going to see it.

The first layer, the nagajuban is white, and by the time we finish, will be the visible only at the collar, and this is tied back informally with a smaller obi. And then Cousin Ashi and Cousin Kotsu bring out the red over kimono that everyone had worked on so hard on.

The red silk drapes over my shoulders, and I feel that it is right, somehow. It is a shade darker than the fangs on our cheeks, a deep and glowing blood red. The long sleeves sweep the floor, a black wolf embroidered on each sleeve, snapping guardians of my left and right hands. _A furisode, for a young woman's coming of age day._ Across the bottom gold and black chrysanthemums dance from the hemline all the way to my knees. They wrap around my legs onto the back of the kimono, but my actual back and shoulders are simply red. _It's beautiful._

Cousin Kihaku ties the simple black obi around my waist and knots it in the back. "This isn't what the Hyuga or the Uchiha would do for formalities." She mutters. "The Uchiha and Hyuga girls will have highly decorative obis, but this is our tradition." And indeed, all of them also wear plain black obis and simple knots without the showy bows.

"I am proud of our traditions." I reply. Then I have sandals slipped onto my feet. "Thank you." I whisper, and all around the room, the four of them gather around.

"We're your sisters, Hana-hime." Cousin Ashi takes both of my hands and smiles. She's wearing dark blue stitched with pink peonies, like the rest of my immediate girl cousins. "And one day we'll make your wedding kimono too." She applies black eyeliner, and golden eye shadow, and then smiles. "The gold brings out the gold in your eyes when you're happy."

"We'll have to do cranes for longevity and happiness on that one." Cousin Kosha grins. "But today, you run with wolves."

Cousin Kotsu leans in to pin the two large chrysanthemums to my hair. "Make sure they hear you howl."

I nod. "Un." And then we step out towards the shrine.

* * *

Kaa-san stands in front of the statue of the wolf deity, Okami, in the temple, incense clasped between her hands. I kneel before her, the Triplets in a line behind me, and contemplate the statue of the man in the wolf pelt and the wolf beside him. _Are you real? If you are, do you listen to our prayers?_ Kiba is standing with Uncle Teiru's sons. The last I'd seen of him, he'd been poking Shizen for some reason or another.

"We are gathered here to witness the ascension of the next pack mother." Kaa-san places a stick into the center cup. "As the current mother of the pack, I ask that Okami bless my daughter." Then she passes the rest of the incense to Uncle Kegawa who stands beside her.

He places a stick of it into the left cup. "And we ask that our ancestor Yama, the first wolf, to bless her, and through her, the heart of the pack." He passes the incense to Uncle Teiru.

Uncle Teiru places the last stick in the right cup. "And we ask that our predecessors guide her, teach her, and watch over her so that when the time comes, she wears the mantle as easily as she wears this ascension."

"May Okami bless our pack." The crowd echoes. "May we choose wisely and be blessed."

There is a different energy in the room, not chakra but more spiritual. _Perhaps the deities really exist in this universe._ The legend of the Inuzuka, Cousin Kotsu had told me while brushing out and trimming my hair. "We are the descendants of the first wolf, Yama." She'd said. "And he is the son of the wolf god, Okami and a human woman. That is why we walk with dogs."

And then we turn our heads towards the rising sun and howl. In that moment I can believe that the blood in my veins comes from the first wolf, and I can feel each member of the clan, can feel their unity and their hopes and dreams, their echoing joy layers upon layers of it.

 _I'm home. This is home._

* * *

After lunch at high noon, we join the village celebrations. There are still firecrackers and sprinklers going off in the streets, and the stands that sold wishes were set up on every street corner. A dancing dragon parades down the street followed by a pair of lions. I'd lost Kiba in the festive atmosphere long ago, and the Triplets had gone off to play with the other clan dogs roaming the streets.

Kaa-san is walking with both of her older brothers, a small smile on her face. Uncle Kegawa slaps her on the shoulder. "We should go drinking Tsu-chan. We've never done that before."

She frowns at him, but there's laughter dancing in her eyes. "Come now, Niichan, how could I let you be irresponsible like that?" _It looks like the new year brings new beginnings with it._

Uncle Teiru laughs and steps between the two. "We could go play poker instead." The three of them disappear into the crowd.

I walk with my cousins as we visit the shrine of fire at the center of the village and stuff our faces with mochi and other desserts. "We should play sugoroku later." Cousin Kihaku announces. "We have five right here, so we need to only drag another person in for three teams of two pairs."

"No, we should light lanterns to float in the Naka River and watch the fireworks first." Cousin Ashi argues. "And we should buy wishes for the new year."

"But the koi sellers are here again for the first time this year." Cousin Kotsu counters. "Shouldn't we visit that first?" She looks around at us. "We need a new koi each to celebrate how much we're friends. I'll fish." She rolls up her sleeves. "Especially since Hana-hime shouldn't do anything with those sleeves of hers."

I frown at her. "I know that the furisode is impractical, but surely I can still fish for my own koi?"

Cousin Kosha shakes her head. "No, you'll get the sleeves wet." She tows me away towards a stand that sold the special slips of chakra paper for wishes. "Come on, I'll buy you seven wishes for the New Year."

Laughingly, I follow her. "Cousin Kosha, don't go so fast." I mock glare at her. "These shoes are difficult to balance on."

"That's your own fault, Hana-hime." She replies cheekily. "You don't wear formal clothing ever, and it's a habit we'll have to break from you before your wedding ceremony."

I giggle, a long sleeve covering my mouth. "We'll have a long long time before that happens."

She turns back to me, her black eye makeup making her hazel eyes stand out even bigger. "Or you could suddenly fall in love with a handsome shinobi, and you'll have a shotgun wedding just like Tsume-baachan." She giggles as well. "That means Tou-san will be so mad though. He loves wedding wine, and he plans to host at least three weddings." _One for each of his daughters. A proud father-in-law three times over._ "I'm sure he'll add yours to the lineup."

"I shall endeavor not to make Kegawa-jisan upset then." I reply. _He means a lot to his family members. Surely then, he is not a bad man at heart._

Cousin Kosha turns towards the vendor. "Seven wishes please." Her cheeky smile and round red cheeks makes her cuter than she'd appeared that first time I'd seen her in the firelight.

"Coming right-" The vendor lays out the paper and reaches for the ink stick and brushes, but a hand stops him.

"Maa...Jiisan, I have to buy the flower at least one wish."

I look up, and there he is. _Kakashi is actually a fungus._ The greatest surprise though, is that he's actually wearing a kimono. Sure, it's just plain black with gray hakama over it, but still. It's nothing like his normal clothing. "You're not calling me a puppy today?"

He eye smiles at me, and it is only about eighty percent plastic. "Hana-chan, everyone knows that you're a little flower today." He nods towards my red furisode and the flowers in my hair. "You can go back to being a puppy tomorrow." _Why, how kind of you._ He flips a few coins onto the table. "Make a wish!"

I step forward, and with my none existent calligraphy skills write out a simple sentence. "I wish Hatake Kakashi-san would stop reading porn in public."

He shakes his head and flips a few more coins onto the table. "That's not a wish, Hana-chan. You'll have to do it over."

I write out another sentence. "I wish Hatake Kakashi-san stopped wearing his mask for a day. He has to go outside his apartment."

One of his hands lands in my hair. "You shouldn't be so-"

Cousin Kosha slaps his hands away. "Stop bothering my sister, Hatake." She steps in front of me and growls. "Tsume-baachan has a decreed that you're banned from the compound.

Kakashi eye smiles again and this time it is completely plastic. "We're not in the compound right now!"

I step forward. "It's okay, Cousin Kosha, I think Kakashi-san's a friend." I smile up at him. "I'll buy you a wish?"

He freezes. "Maa...that won't be-"

I grab his elbow. "You are going to wish for something, Kakashi-san."

He glances at me. "I do suppose I have a wish." He picks up the brush that I'd dropped and adds a wish under mine in truly deplorable handwriting. "I wish Hana-chan will stop calling me Kakashi-san."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "What am I supposed to call you? Idiot Scarecrow? Hey you? You there in the mask?"

He sighs. "Just Kakashi would be fine too." He eye smiles at me, and it is perhaps fifty percent plastic. "Friends don't use the san suffix with each other, Hana-chan!" And then he disappears off into the distance.

I turn to Cousin Kosha. "That..was strange."

She sighs. "Is he crazy? I've never talked to him before, but my impression is that he's crazy."

I giggle. "Yep! He's definitely crazy." We take the wishes, and several other wishes, serious ones, and wrap them to a Hashirama Tree.

* * *

We meet up with our other cousins cheering Cousin Kotsu as she scoops fish from the pool. _She's actually really good._ And across from her is...Shisui, and a conglomeration of Uchiha boys. "Yeah Shisui!" One of them slaps Shisui on the back. "You can beat her!"

Cousin Kotsu smiles, her teeth flashing in the light. "As if you dare, Uchiha."

Shisui laughs, clear and free. "I'll do my best, and you'll do yours, Inuzuka."

They turn back to scooping fish with paper nets, and I watch with bated breath.

I feel a hand tap my shoulder, and spin around, only to slightly trip over the edge of my kimono. A hand catches my own as I go toppling backwards. Luckily I do not end up on the ground. "Thank you, Ita-kun." I smile at him.

He smiles back. "It's good to know that you're just the same as ever." He glances down at the wolves on my sleeves. "You look very pretty."

I haven't the time to respond. Mikoto-san and Fugaku-san appear from beyond the crowd, and as soon as she spots me she races forwards. "Oh, look at you, Hana-chan!" She spins me around careful to not topple me or unbalance me the slightest. "You look so cute today." She turns to Fugaku-san. "Doesn't Hana-chan look especially pretty?"

Fugaku-san seems...lost somehow. "It must be the day that the Inuzuka announce a new heiress." He says at last, but nothing more.

"Anata..." Mikoto-san straightens to prod his shoulder and set a hand on her hip. "Won't you ever learn to compliment a pretty girl on her coming of age day?"

Fugaku-san looks slightly offended. _Wait. Do I know what he's feeling now? He seems offended._ "You have never complained."

"I know you, anata." Mikoto-san smiles down at me. "Don't you worry, Hana-chan. He thinks you're very pretty today."

I smile up at them both, and bow politely. "Thank you both for the compliments, Fugaku-san, Mikoto-san."

* * *

The Uchihas do end up taking their leave after Shisui uses his sharingan to help catch fish, right after which my cousins accuse him of cheating, and before bad feelings start to appear.

There is to be no ill will on New Year's day else a year's worth of bad luck will ensue. Thus, the Uchiha take their leave, and my cousins disperse towards other stations of fun and games. "We should find one of your friends for a game of surogoku." Cousin Kihaku takes me by the shoulder. "Wait for us by the edge of the square, we need to go and visit the Hyugas to locate that best friend of Hana-hime's."

 _Toku. We need to go and find Toku._

I haven't met Toku since before Koma-senpai- _No. Don't think about it._ I don't know how he would feel, or what amount of the truth he knew.

"And this must be our village's newest heiress." I don't look up far, into the face of an old woman, and then at the two men beside her.

"Elder Utatane." Cousin Kihaku bows slightly. "Elder Homura, and Elder Shimura."

My blood freezes even as I step forward with a small smile pasted to my lips. "It's an honor to make your acquaintance." _It is most decidedly not an honor._ I do not look at the man that I have sworn to take down. _Danzo is no more special than the rest of them at this moment._

"A polite Inuzuka." Danzo comments. "How unusual."

I turn towards him, my smile widening. "My Tou-san did teach me manners." I murmur, and a flash of something dances through the man's dark eyes before disappearing completely before I can identify it. _He has no bandages. None at all, not on his head, not on his arm._

And I am confused by this, but it is not important.

"And impudent." He rumbles. "As expected of your clan." He doesn't look entirely like a kindly grandfather, but for someone who had forced Koma-senpai to blind himself and corrupted so many so many ROOT members he looks surprisingly normal.

"I am an heiress." I quip. "And I must represent my clan somehow."

The three members of the Hokage's council move on.

Cousin Kihaku slides her arm into mine. "You are a popular one, Hana-hime."

I sigh. "Let's just go find the Hyugas alright?"

* * *

Koma-senpai and Toku and Haya-senpai are not hard to find. They are wearing full black, and standing far apart from the other members of the clan. There are no adornments on their clothing, not today, not when they are still mourning and recovering. Koma-senpai has a black band tied over where his eyes used to be, and Haya-senpai has her arm looped through his so that he does not trip over something.

He is still the first to turn towards me as we approach, as if he still has all seeing eyes. "Hana-chan." He inclines his head in my direction. "And a guest." A nod in Cousin Kihaku's direction.

"How did you know where we were?" Cousin Kihaku demands without a shred of shame. "You're fully blind right now, right?" It is a bit insensitive, but I had just wondered the very same thing.

Koma-senpai smiles. The bottom half of his face is unchanged, but there is a mass of scars that the black band of cloth over his eyes cannot change. "I am a chakra sensor, Inuzuka-chan. I still do know where most people are." _Even if you are, Koma-senpai, losing your eyes cannot be easy._

I step forward. "I'm glad to see you're still alive."

He acknowledges my statement with a nod, and a grateful head tilt. "It is thanks to you, Hana-chan." _No. I did not save you, Koma-senpai._ But he is neither upset nor ashamed. He is as ever, the still, smooth water of a deep lake, and his calm is unshakable as ever.

"Thank you, Hana-chan." Haya-senpai murmurs. "We are in your debt, Koma-niisan and I."

Toku loops his arm through mine. "Come, Hana." He says, unusually subdued. "Walk with me to Mufu-an."

Cousin Kihaku opens her mouth to protest, but I shake my head at her, and her mouth snaps shut. "Of course, Toku."

We do not go to Mufu-an. Instead, Toku pulls me into a bar and sits down on one of the stools. "Sake." He calls. "I want a bottle."

The barkeep protests. "Aren't you a little young?"

Toku's veins bulge around his skull, and he stares, with his disconcerting white eyes straight at the barkeep. "I am a chunin of Konohagakure no Sato. I've been an adult for over two years now, and I say that I want sake."

He pours himself the first cup, and downs it in a single swallow. "I don't know what's going on anymore."

I wrap an arm around my shoulder. _Does he know? Does he not?_ "What do you not understand?"

His hands clench. "I don't understand how the clan could force Niisan to do what he did." _So he does know or at least he guesses._ He murmurs, and laughs loudly in false cheer. "It's New Year's Hana." He passes me a cup of sake. "Drink up!"

"They are ignorant brutes." I reply, and we clink our cups together, sake splashing onto the table. "And of course I'll drink with you, Toku." I should not be feeding his feelings by being his drinking buddy.

But I do not care about that. "Kanpai!" The sake tastes like mild fruit juice to be honest, so I don't feel that bad.

* * *

We stagger out of the bar with our arms slung over each other's shoulders. To be honest, we probably look really strange, a twelve year old branch Hyuga who still refuses to cover his forehead dressed in all black with no adornments or makeup of any kind, and a nearly ten year old Inuzuka heiress with flowers in her hair, makeup and a brilliant red furisode.

We are still just Hana and Toku though, the same two people that met nearly five years ago at the Academy. No matter what changes, it wouldn't change that.

"Hana." He says, and he's so much more subdued than normal. "I wish my family was like yours." _My family has ignored me for years because they thought it was what I wanted. We only recently made up, but I don't think that's what he really means._

"Your family loves you." I reply. Sometimes we need to hear the truth spoken before it becomes the truth. _And curse the Hyugas for dimming his smile. They could use some lessons on how to live like him, and yet they're the ones considering him a disgrace instead of the other way around. Curse them all._

"I can't say I really think so." Toku sighs. "If they love me, why would they push Koma-niisan into a corner like that?"

"I said your family, Toku." I squeeze his shoulder. "I'm your sister."

His eyes widen. "You did not mean the Clan."

I tilt my head up so that I can look at him more clearly. "There is a difference. The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb." I close my eyes, and our foreheads touch in the chilly air. "Blood is thicker than water."

His hand tightens around my shoulder. "I will remember that."

The festivities end at midnight, with fireworks drawing flowers across the sky in bright flashy patterns, but I'm looking at the moon. "Okami-sama." I whisper. "If you're out there, could you listen to a prayer of mine?" _Could you help Toku and Koma-senpai and Haya-senpai? Can you make sure that Kaa-san makes up with her brothers? Could you kick Danzo down a well? Could you change Itachi's destiny? Could you have Sensei recover faster? Can you make Kakashi better?_

 _If you think I'm asking for too much from you today, could you give me the power do it on my own?_

* * *

 **A.N.** And we have the Winter Festival, and Hana's official ascension to clan heiress in the eyes of Konoha, that and a New Year's festival so it is less dark and more light hearted. (Also, the people who have read Fugaku's segment in Ashen, I think, would understand the nuances of his very small scene in this chapter.) That and just about everyone converging on Hana who's dressed rather pretty. Also, Hana has no idea that she has reasons even closer to heart to hate Danzo, thus, their interaction is fairly tame.

Also, polling question: Who has the most shipping moments with Hana so far? (I'm kind of curious what other people think.)

Thank you to rickrossed (Koma's life might indeed be happier this way.), Guest One (The Inuzukas and to an extent, Kakashi, speak dog when speaking to their dogs. I believe at one point, Toku mentions that Hana barks when talking to them, thus, no one actually knows what Hana is saying to the Triplets, except Kakashi.), Yuki Suou (Fugaku is so much fun to write. I think the inside of his head is a really interesting place to consider. There's subtext in every action that he takes. Truly, for him, actions speak louder than words.), LadyScatty (Ichi is the eldest of them, and there's another fun scene between Kakashi and Hana in this chapter. And yes, the elders, all elders should be burnt to a crisp by Katon: Kill It With Fire. Also, thank you so much for your offer, I might ask sometime.), bookdragonslayer (I love your name btw, and yep, Pakkun and Akamaru are very cute.), n1ghtdr34m3r (Yes, Hana and Itachi share many similarities.), CannibalisticApple (As I am not supposed to expose future plot points, I will not be able to answer that right now. Things will become murkier before they become clearer.), JustQuokka (Ships for Hana in Bloodless will officially set sail well into where canon begins. In quite a few more years yet.), Guest Two (Thank you so much. Your review means a lot to me.), Sam (Itachi's perspective, A Walk Through Fire, is in the works. Not sure when the posting will occur, but definitely looking at next week instead of this one.), LittleMissSugarLess (The other perspectives are in the side stories. It's called Ashen.), Estarc (Yeah, we're getting into some of the arcs that I really love.), May525 (When Kiba is slightly older.), WhiteFang001 (I'm glad I surprised you!), and libraryrockerr (I'm so glad you liked it!) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	45. Clan Heiress Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.** And Huzzah! It's a chapter on Saturday. No chapter on Sunday though. I will not have time.

* * *

The week after the New Year, I walk down through the city to Sensei's house with Itachi and Toku. It is the first time that Itachi hears about Koma-senpai.

"Then your Niisan was blinded?" Their shoulders brush as we walk. Toku's in the center today, because he needs to feel the protection that we can provide.

"He did it himself." Toku murmurs and swings an arm over both of our shoulders so that we're a three man line. "The clan forced him into it."

Itachi looks troubled. "What sort of family is that?" _I suppose that Uchihas are also a very close knit family group. It would fit with their deep brotherly love._

"Not a family." Toku mutters. "I can conclude that they aren't my family." He sighs. "I should have realized the truth when Hizashi-sama was sacrificed to save his older brother's skin, but I didn't want to think about it." _You were only eleven. Why would you have become disillusioned then?_ The truth is that Hyuga Hizashi had sacrificed himself to save his elder brother...according to what Hyuga Hiashi had told a grieving Neji. I didn't know that I believed that information anymore, as I had seen no _humanity_ from Hyuga Hiashi.

"We're your family." I say at last. _We will be your brothers and sisters. You will never walk alone._

"Yes." Itachi says with quiet determination. "An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." He's thinking about Tobi the masked man again as he says this. I know he is, because Itachi doesn't just forget about things like that. No one did. "You're my brother."

And I have never expected Itachi, however kind, to love us as much as his own blood brother, perhaps he didn't, but he is willing to call Toku brother as well.

"At least I know that I have the best friends." Toku says as we pass the garden gate. "We aren't an official team anymore, but we'll always be Team Ensui."

"Muta-kun as well." Itachi responds. "He is a part of our team." Itachi's barely spent any time with Muta, who is still so busy in Tracking, and he's probably say this more for Toku's benefit than himself, but Itachi and Muta are accepting of each other at the very least. _Would that his kind heart never change and grow cold._

I nod. "Mu-kun is a part of Team Ensui."

As soon as we cross the threshold, Kiho-baachan pounces on Toku, and by extension, the rest of us. "My beloved little dress up doll." She sobs into his hair. "I am so sorry." And it fits just as much with Kiho-baachan's personality as the sun is hot and flowers need water. "If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

"Kiho-baachan." Toku pats her back. "Koma-niisan will be alright. He's just the same as always." _Just permanently blind._ He pulls back and frowns. "I didn't know that I was a mannequin."

She laughs, but it's Sensei who responds. "The Vicious Hag loves dress up, Toku-kun." And he's there, leaning comfortingly against the door just like how he used to be before he'd done something to his soul. "I think you have to accept that apprentice to the best infiltration specialist down in Intel means that you're just a doll for her to dress up."

"Sensei!" The three of us race forwards towards him. He looks better, or maybe he's gotten better at acting.

Kiho-baachan sighs dramatically and presses the back of her hand to her forehead in mock despair. "Why must my children love me less than my adored Waste of Space?"

Sensei snorts. "Perhaps because I am their sensei, and you are merely their sensei's wife?" Kiho-baachan practically growls and advances on him with a smile so thin and sharp it could probably slip between his ribs, no problem. Sensei simply smirks back at her though, as if he knew something we didn't.

"No one's merely anything, Sensei!" I take one of his hands, and Itachi takes the other, and we pull him from his leaning position on the wall straight into a group hug.

"Have we ever mentioned how thankful we are that you're our sensei?" Itachi murmurs. "We can never repay you." _I can never repay you, Sensei, for everything that you gave up for me._

Sensei laughs. "Even though I made sure two of you got manure in your hair?" Sensei hadn't forced us to run another kunai search through a manure field again, and Itachi's never had to suffer the sad sad fate, but I suppose it's because I learned Doton Jutsu and Sensei knew we wouldn't ever provide such a funny spectacle as digging through the manure with our bare hands ever again.

Toku groans. "Sensei, I love you, but I haven't forgiven you for that." And we all laugh.

"Toku, the manure is part of your hair by now." I tug a stray lock of it that had flown out of his low tail with a cheeky smile, and Kiho-baachan shoos us all into the kitchen for breakfast.

* * *

After breakfast I head down to the north gate for watch duty, with a scroll on chakra control techniques under my arm. Gate guarding, for lack of a better word, is boring. It is on the same level of mind numbingly dull as watching a dead volcano. Nevertheless, on the off chance that anyone would actually sneak an invasion through the gates of Konoha, gate guarding is a thing.

It's just a very boring thing that involves a lot of sitting around and doing absolutely nothing. Thus, I collect a second person to make it more bearable, and bring a chakra control scroll with me so that the time doesn't devolve into bickering and hating each other's guts.

Although I'm not sure if Nara Kasuga is capable of hating my guts. "Taicho."

I turn to look at him. "Yes?"

"How was your New Year?" His eyes widen, he promptly turns back to watching the road, and his mouth keeps on running. "I mean, if you don't want to tell me anything about it that's-" He'd been speaking so fast that there's barely a pause between words.

"Enough, Kasuga." I stare at him in mild bemusement. _Were you always like this?_ "My New Year's Eve was celebrated with my ascension to Clan Heiress." And then I turn back to my attempts to get the kunai that I'd balanced on my index finger to start spinning. The first one is simple, but the more I add the harder it gets, and I've yet to be able to manage spinning even two kunai on different hands. I could manage three on one hand though, just not the split focus.

Quite frankly, I have roughly average chakra control, and while I hadn't suffered major setbacks learning tree walking or water walking, learning to split a chakra nature to each hand involves a good deal of control that I do not yet posses. Not for the first time, I marvel at how Tou-san's control had been good enough to test and refine the experiments that he'd conducted in his notes before the age of twenty five.

 _Why couldn't I have inherited that from you?_

"Oh, that's-" It seems as though Kasuga has finally found a way to express himself, after staring in my direction for about a minute or so. "That's wonderful news, Taicho." He pauses to consider it. "Taicho? Taicho-hime? Hana-hime? Hime? Hana-Taicho-hime?" And now he's trying to figure out names for me. _More titles. I don't need those._

"Just _Hana_." I groan, and set the kunai down before it dropped and stabbed one of us in the foot.

"I couldn't possibly do anything of that nature, Taicho!" Kasuga looks horrified at the very thought. "Taicho should always be referred to with respect. How could I possibly refer to you by your given name?"

"Other people do it all the time." But that would not be justification for him, I know from experience. _Is this what devotion is? Surely it is not._ I mutter under my breath. "How was your New Year?"

"I spent New Year's Eve with Ito-kun's family." He replies promptly, and seems to momentarily forget that I've been made a clan heiress, and he'd been considering a new name.

"How was it?" I stare out into the scenery, and wonder why Nara Kasuga didn't spend his new year with his clan. _Have they been ostracizing him? Does he not want to be there?_

"His Kaa-san is still sick." Kasuga sighs. "At this rate, she might not live to see her daughters grow up."

"Does Konoha General not accept them?" _Is it something untreatable? Have they already gone? Can they not find a cure for her illness?_ I live in a world where the medics could fix broken legs in the matter of half an hour, and while there are some injuries that are fatal, illness is generally not one of them.

"Where would they get that kind of money, Taicho?" Kasuga turns to look at me with tired eyes. _I have all the money I could possible want. I have the respect of the clan._ "She's a civilian. Her son works in the Genin Corps. And his job is the only one that brings in money. They're poor, Taicho, like plenty of other people in this world."

And I am reminded that there is a whole world out there that I haven't seen. There are lives that I cannot relate to, even inside Konoha. _Really, in the large scheme of things, I am fortunate to have been born Inuzuka Hana, daughter of Inuzuka Kaito and Inuzuka Tsume, to Konoha. I have been handed liquid luck in the form of my blood ever since I took my first breath._

The thought is sobering. "Isn't there a way to help?"

Kasuga slouches against the desk that we are manning. "They won't take charity, but Chisa-chan," and at my confused look he clarifies "Ito's littlest sister, wants to meet you."

"Meet me?" _I don't even know who she is._ "What for?"

"She thinks of you as a role model, you know." He flicks a piece of hair out of his face. "You are one of the prodigies after all, Taicho."

 _I am?_ I stare down at my hands. _I suppose I am_

It is a morning of revelations.

* * *

By mid morning, Kasuga has gone to sleep leaning against the desk. It is just that boring. I am blinking furiously as well, in attempt to stay awake. In retrospect, that's why everything started happening right then.

A team bursts through the treeline and heads towards the gate. "We need to get to the hospital right now." _A tracking team._ And Muta is among them, his arm slung over someone else's shoulder. He is clearly unconscious.

And I'm not technically supposed to let them through without checking to make sure of who they are, but there's no help for that. _This is Muta. If he's injured I have to let him towards the hospital as quickly as possible._ I step aside. "Konoha General is in center city, do you need a new person to help with the injured?" I turn towards what seems to be the team leader, a man that I haven't seen before.

He still has a senbon in his mouth when he responds. "You're not supposed to leave the gate."

"I won't argue with you if you don't need the help." I wave the rest of his team through, and the one carrying Muta disappears into the city. _I do not care whether or not you're tired Shinobi-san. I care if Mu-kun's fine._

"What happened to Mu-kun?" I gesture towards the direction that his team had gone. "He didn't look so badly injured."

"Poisoned." _Poisoned? Was he poisoned or were his kikaichu poisoned?_ The man's examining me again, strangely enough. "Haven't I seen you somewhere?"

"We live in the same city, Shinobi-san." I remark rather sarcastically. "The statistical possibility of having met on a street corner is rather high." I frown at him. "Also, keeping a senbon in your mouth is a good way to get injured."

He doesn't look entirely pleased by my announcement. "Yeah, yeah." He turns to step through the gate.

"Name?" I block the way, and finally ask for his name to put the mission log. "You're the team leader aren't you?"

"Shiranui Genma." He heads through the gate muttering all the while. "Strange little brats who don't follow standard protocol."

"He needs to learn some manners, Taicho." Kasuga murmurs, his hands in the rat seal. "I could have had him slit his throat right then."

I'm not so certain. "He seemed stronger than that, Kasuga."

Kasuga smirks. "Even the strong have their weak points, Taicho. It only takes a shadow to find them." And I am again reminded that Kasuga worked a little differently than me. _He sees darkness a little easier._ But he had still tried to help Ito-kun's family. _He's not bad at heart. He's just a pessimist._

My thoughts turn back to Muta. _Poisoned. Be safe, Mu-kun._

* * *

I visit Muta in the hospital after my shift at gate guarding ends. Toku and Itachi are already there. _I'm late aren't I?_

There doesn't seem to be much wrong with Muta though, he's sitting up in bed with a rather bemused expression as the three of them joke and laugh by the time that I arrive.

"Mu-kun?" I take him by the shoulders and check to make sure that they've fixed whatever that was causing his unconsciousness. "Are you alright?"

He smiles, and brushes my loose hair away from my face. "I'm perfectly well, Hana-chan." He sighs. "There was just an airborne poison that my kikaichu were affected by on the last mission." He gestures around the room. "The mission was a success. I just happened to be the only one to end up here since I'm the least experienced of the squad."

"I see." _Not every mission has to do with missing nin or ends in tears. I have to remember that._

"Actually." Muta remarks as he glances around the room as if expecting someone to be hiding behind the curtains or the hospital beds. "I'm a little confused as to why Shishou isn't here to see me." _Ah yes. Mu-kun's mysterious Shishou. I still have no idea who he or she is._

"Were they waiting for you to get back?" Toku asks, and leans forward. "When are we going to meet this Shishou of yours anyway?"

Muta pokes his cheek. "That's why Shishou isn't here yet. He hates visiting hospitals when other people can see him." _That sounds like Kakashi, but I feel like Kakashi would have said something if he became the teacher of one of my genin teammates._

 _That and Kakashi hates teaching everything. He hates students in general._

 _Can't be Kakashi._

"You know me so well, brat." And that is a voice that I've heard before.

I whirl around. "You." Him. The senbon chewing shinobi that I'd been arguing with down by the north gate.

"You." He responds, just as surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Shishou." Muta protests weakly. "What's going on?"

Shiranui Genma leans casually against a wall, and ignores Muta's query. "How do you even know my student anyway?"

"I'm his genin teammate." I frown at him. _Surely Mu-kun is not reticent enough for you to not know who his genin teammates are._

"I thought those where his genin teammates." Shiranui-san gestures towards Toku and Itachi. "They were the ones who showed up first."

"I was on duty." I snap. _You were the one to remind me of that Shiranui-san._

At the same moment, Itachi walks forward to stare at Shiranui-san. "We're all a part of Team Ensui." There's an edge of irritation in his voice that I can appreciate. _I think you've been very rude so far._

Toku's veins bulge. "Don't be mean to my sister, Shinobi-san."

"Shishou." Muta pushes himself to his feet. "I already told you that I have three genin teammates." And he might not have fought and nearly died with Itachi by his side, but by the love he holds for the rest of his genin team, Itachi is his teammate.

"A close team, huh." Shiranui-san crosses his arms over his chest and stares at the four of us. "You'll end up hurt one of these days." The senbon in his mouth flicks back and forth as he talks, but there's something dark and sad in his eyes as he stares at us. "Death comes for free."

And then he disappears out the door.

"Well." Toku comments. "Someone's got a pessimistic Shishou." He jabs Muta in the stomach with his elbow to make sure that Muta falls back onto the bed. "I get why you never introduced us now."

* * *

I visit an official meeting of clan heads with Kaa-san a few weeks after the previous events. As a Clan Heiress it is technically my right to attend, but most heirs and heiresses don't ever visit because it is boring.

"Are you sure you want to go?" Kaa-san sighs. "It's full of old idiots who argue over tax rates, mission settlements, and clan laws." _That does not sound like an ideal evening._

Most laws in Konoha...well, let's just say that things are fairly lax. Given that it is a hidden village this is rather normal. Shinobi lie, fight, cheat, and steal all the time, and largely unless there are deaths or an overly large amount of ruckus nothing ever came of the shinobi-related problems, especially shinobi-civilian relations.

Shinobi answer only to the Hokage if they are clanless, and to their clan head before the Hokage if they were part of a clan.

The clans only nominally answer to the Hokage. Case in point: the Hyuga. The Hokage has no right to interfere with their inner workings unless it is detrimental to the village as a whole, thus, the Caged Bird Seal isn't outlawed.

"I would like to go." If I am to inherit the clan one day, and if I want to make sure that this world is better than when I found it, if I relied on my new title to help me to protect any of my pack, then I would have to know how to maneuver within Konoha's political circle.

That includes the meeting of clan heads, and the civilian council. "I think it will be an interesting learning experience."

Kaa-san shrugs. "If you think so." Her eyes are distant again. "Kai-baka's smarter than me about a lot of these things." She heads towards the door. "He did always look before he leapt and I never did." It's at times like these when I am again reminded of how Kaa-san and Tou-san fit together like pieces of a puzzle, and how early Tou-san was taken from the world. _He was only twenty five when he died._

 _Although I suppose that must have been close to shinobi middle age for war time._

I follow Kaa-san out the door.

* * *

"And now we move to the rampant poverty in the ninth civilian district." Fugaku-san stands up to speak. I've never heard Fugaku-san speak so much at one time before. "There's been a lot of problems with people's lives in district." _He must care about the topic a lot. He's never this loquacious about anything else. These people and their lives matter to him._ Even so, Fugaku-san is hardly a _good_ speaker. He's really rather bad. It must be because he never practices giving speeches.

"This is a meeting about shinobi and the shinobi forces, Uchiha-san." Danzo steeples his hands over the sheets of paper before him. "We can worry about the civilians in another meeting."

"When will we ever talk about them?" Fugaku-san slams a hand on the desk before him. "I have been asking for aid for the ninth district for years now! It has never materialized!" _It is very dear to his heart then, for him to have persisted for so long._

"It is the job of the Civilian Council to deal with issues regarding civilians, Fugaku." The Hokage puffs on his pipe. "If we overstep, they will protest and we cannot have unrest within the village."

"The Civilian Council is corrupt." Fugaku-san is breathing hard now. "They will not help the people that live within the ninth district." _He loves the people of Konoha. He loves the people, not the buildings, not the reputation, not the honor. He cares about the people._

"Fugaku." The Hokage seems more amused than anything else. "You have to go through the proper channels for these sorts of things. We're in the middle of a discussion to renegotiate mission rates with the Daimyo of Wind Country. It is not the time or the place to speak about the ninth district."

Fugaku-san sits down, but I see his hands clench under the table, and they are trembling. _A little boy chastised for being too forward with his elders. Always, always, taught to have more patience. Was that what you were, Fugaku-san? Do you feel like that still at times like these?_

"Why can we not talk about the ninth district?" I ask. I cannot bear to see Fugaku-san's disappointment. He had always been strong and unbreakable. I knew that in another life he'd died by the hand of his son, but in this life I had not seen anything to break him. This scene before me is just another way that he is human. _A man who loves so deeply, so easily smacked down._ "And what's wrong with the ninth district anyway?"

All eyes in the room swivel towards me. "The ninth district." Elder Homura coughs into his hand. "Is the red light district, Inuzuka-chan."

"There's not a single good person there." Elder Utatane sighs. "I do not know why we don't simply do away with the district altogether."

But surely they are people. Surely the people who lived there are people too. _I will have to visit. I want to know what they are like._ But I know nothing about the ninth district, and since no one else picks up the thread of conversation, not even Kaa-san who I am sure, at three hours into a four hour meeting, is so bored as to be nearly in tears or half asleep, the topic drops.

And then the conversation moves away again. Down the table, Fugaku-san's head is bowed, and his shoulders tremble. I do not think that anyone else notices the fine line a single tear carves down his face. I am not sure that I am mercenary enough to continue coming to these meetings. _Can I watch this happen again and again?_

* * *

"Why are we going to eat dango again?" I ask, as Itachi drags me down the street. It's been two weeks since my first Clan Head and Hokage's Council meeting, and Sensei has finally let Itachi have a day off. Of course, the first thing that he thinks of to do is to drag me out to eat dango with him.

He turns to look at me with laughter in his eyes. "What else would we eat?" He asks this as if the answer is as simple as the sky is blue, new leaves are green, and we are Team Ensui.

"Mochi, perhaps?" I ask. "It is after all, nice to have variety."

He shakes his head. "I will make an exception for pocky, nothing more."

I poke his cheek. "It is a surprise that we can't roll you down the street, Ita-kun." He flushes a little at my teasing, but I'm not done. "Who knew that the Uchiha Heir has such a sweet tooth? We'll have to cart you down to Mufu-an by the time you're thirty just because you'll be too fat to walk, and the Uchiha Clan Head can't waddle in public."

"I will not be fat, Hana." He protests, a faint blush painting his cheeks. Sadly, Itachi does not ever really blush fire engine red, sadly. He merely becomes pink, and tries valiantly to hide the fact from others. It is still funny enough to watch. "I have my pride."

"Sure you do." I sing as I skip down the street. "You have so much pride that this is the fourth time you're eating dango this week." It is only Tuesday, and I am certain that this is the first time he's given into the call that dango emits towards his soul, but it is too much fun to tease him.

" _Hana!_ " He follows, resigned. At least we're still going in the same direction as the dango.

* * *

 **A.N.** And we have a selection of Hana's life in pieces. There are a lot of moving parts in this chapter, and not too many humorous moments. That, and Hana has totally forgotten who Shiranui Genma is and what his importance to the main story is. She's suffering from living inside the world for too long.

And Uchiha Fugaku becomes even more human. I don't think it's that much of a stretch that he would care about the community that he's the head of police for. In the anime he places a great deal of emphasis on a bloodless coup, and I honestly feel a lot of the problem was Danzo's mistrust and the clan pressuring him because the clan was understandably angry. In my head, I see the language of flowers speaking Uchiha Traditionalist as someone who would care a great deal about the problem areas inside his community.

And the feedback I got for the last chapter was tremendous. Thank you so much you guys.

Polling question, do you guys like it when I respond to reviews at the ends of chapters, or would you prefer that I respond by PM? (It's been getting clunkier in recent chapters.)

Thank you to SalvatoreChick, Yuki Suou, Guest One (I've always liked the full version better than the shortened version of the saying because it means so much more.), LittleMissSugarLess (I'm so glad. I do want the Kakashi Hana interactions to be fun, but also serious at times.), Sazaleli, Svedka0926, LadyScatty (I feel like Toku's fought and bled and nearly died with Hana for such a long time now, that he understands why she did it, and as such he has a hard time blaming her. Sure, he does feel upset about it, but he understands and at his core, Toku's an accepting person.), ArturoLJ50 (In answer to your question, Hana has not thought about Kiba's relationship with anyone yet. I think she'll trust him to make his own decisions, because that's an Inuzuka thing, but she'll also make sure that the other person is worthy of Kiba's trust in subtle ways.), XTakaX27 (I'm glad that you like the headcanons about the Inuzuka, and yeah, Kakashi and Hana's relationship won't ever be entirely smooth, they're both very similar and very different, but it is one that's rewarding for both of them in different ways.), rickrossed, Sam, Sis (The Katon:Kill It with Fire Jutsu will forever be a thing.), Killing Curse Eyes (Team Ensui is very close, that's true.), libraryrockerr (Yeah, Danzo gets no hugs.), yulionde (The ship is unplanned. It depends on what the characters say, and there won't be relationship drama for the sake of drama. There's so much drama everywhere already.), Guest Two (Well it looks like the ship has sailed for someone :P.), May525, and MarchionessBlueViolet (I'm glad you like it!) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	46. Military Police Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I make my way to the Archives after Itachi returns to Sensei, who has finally decided that he needs to stop avoiding the work piling up in Crypt. The Archives are on the lower levels of the RnD building underneath the tower. I have only two weeks to learn about the ninth district before the next monthly meeting, and I would rather know what I am talking about before I decide to bring anything up to the Council, or decide to visit the Civilian Council in another four weeks. And meeting with Itachi had reminded me again, of what I had promised him. If Fugaku-san isn't so frustrated with the administration of Konoha, perhaps he'd be less likely to rebel, and then Itachi's heart would be saved.

I don't understand how the Uchiha Massacre had occurred in the original timeline. My existence could not have caused any change within Fugaku-san himself, and there are only three or so years before I, and by extension, Itachi turns thirteen. The year Itachi turned thirteen he'd massacred his entire family under orders because the Uchiha were planning a coup.

But the more I learn of Fugaku-san, the less I am able to understand why he would plan a coup. _What broke a man who loves his home so dearly so that he ends up trying to stage a coup? He is not pretending to love Konoha. He is being truthful, or else he'd have to have slipped up by now, and he hasn't._

Still, there is no way for me to know, and fretting over it would change nothing if I had no concrete planning.

The manager of the Archives is a Nara. Specifically, Sensei's third cousin twice removed, Nara Suzaku, with whom he shared a rather good relationship. Or at least, Sensei had shrugged and said that Suzaku wasn't so bad when I asked about it. I am fairly certain that despite what Sensei said about his cousin's lassitude, he'd be willing to help me with my endeavor.

And I would need the help. The Archives are gigantic, and the thought of having to search their entirety is a frightening one.

I make my way down the staircase into the bowels of Konoha's information center. "Nara Suzaku-san?" I call, and there's a stirring at the front desk.

"Meh, are you one of Ensui's troublesome kids?" The man who lifts his head off of the tabletop where a mountain of scrolls are piled haphazardly is definitely Sensei's relative. They spoke with practically the same drawl and he wore his hair in a high tail that looked more like a two pronged trident than anything else.

"I'm Hana." I respond. "And Nara Ensui's my Sensei."

Suzaku-san glances down at my flak jacket. "Doesn't look like he's really your Sensei anymore, Hana-chan."

"Sensei will always be Sensei." And that's true. No matter how far Sensei's children travel into their career paths, no matter who else teaches us later, we will always be Sensei's students. It is a testament of the love he offered us so freely, of all the times his heart has sheltered us, and his mind had protected us. We will always be his children.

"We did always tease him that he'd turn out to be a mother even more than Kiho-chan." Suzaku stretches and climbs to his feet. "Seems he's finally done it, despite not being able to have blood children. Didn't peg him as a Jonin Sensei though." _What? What does that even mean?_

"What do you mean?" Sensei and Kiho-baachan had never talked about whether or not they wanted children in front of us, but they'd never implied that they couldn't either. _They've been married for...nearly three years now, right? That's not that long._ But even as I try to justify this to myself, I know it isn't true. Sensei and Kiho-baachan are both shinobi, and shinobi didn't generally wait three years to have children without some other sort of reason.

Life is short, and happiness is to be found as soon as could be expected. If they wanted children, they should have planned for it to have occur soon after the wedding.

"They didn't tell you?" Suzaku-san peers down at me. "Well, I shouldn't tell you about their private affairs." He shrugs. "Kiho-chan's an infiltration specialist. Think about it." And that makes a horrible sort of sense. Infiltration is a difficult and dangerous job, and injury is common and generally healed the civilian way unless there's a medic on the team, and even then, depending on the delicacy of the job, perhaps not. Kiho-baachan could very well have been injured. "He didn't tell me what you wanted from down here, though."

I pull myself back to the present, far from Sensei's personal problems. _Doesn't he have enough of them already? Why do I always understand that he has more?_ "I wanted to know about the ninth district's history."

And the farther I get into my sentence, the higher Suzaku-san's eyebrows rise. "That's some pretty heavy reading."

"I heard about the ninth district during the last council meeting." And despite what this Nara warns me is heavy reading, I am not deterred. I have two lifetimes of heavy reading wound inside my memories. I could take a little more. "And I want to learn about it."

Suzaku-san heads up one of the green stairways leading into the shelves. "Well, come along then, you said you wanted the history of Yoshiwara?"

"Yes." I trail after him as he starts pulling scrolls off of shelves without even looking at then and setting them in my arms. "Are you sure these are the right ones?"

He looks over his shoulder at me for a brief moment. "Our clan head might be good at strategy, that's his strong suit, and your Sensei's is pattern recognition-why he works so well in Crypt and just in reading people in general-" Suzaku-san taps the side of his head with a finger as the corners of his mouth tilt up in a slightly amused smile. "But my brain memorizes everything. I know exactly where everything is in this place." _That's..._ I glance around at the shelves, the staircases and more shelves. _That's incredible._

"Wow." _What must it be like to remember everything in here?_

He chuckles. "I can't tell you all the information in here, cause I'm lazy and I don't read everything that comes through here, but I can tell you where to find it, if I've seen it at least once."

"That's still so cool." I sit down in the walkway. "There has to be thousands of scrolls in here."

"Oh, fifty hundred thousand and fourteen since this morning." Suzaku-san waves a hand at me. "Come over here. There's some more stuff on the fashions inside Yoshiwara during the Nidaime's reign."

"Is that what the ninth district is called? Yoshiwara?" I climb to my feet and continue onward.

"Yeah. The red light district, you know? Yoshiwara." Suzaku-san pulls another scroll off of the shelves. "I think this is the most important one: History and Reasons for the Construction of Yoshiwara."

My hand tightens on that particular scroll. "Thank you so much, Suzaku-san."

He laughs and walks me back to the reading area. "Glad to be of help. If there's some other thing you want to know about just poke me awake again, alright?"

I smile up at him. "Un!" And then I settle down to read.

* * *

The next order of business, after arming myself with the knowledge of Konoha's ninth civilian district, is to actually visit it, because it's history only told me of a flowery world of high fashion, relations with nobility, and prostitution. It didn't tell me anything about why it needed reform, or what the rampant poverty Fugaku-san had mentioned actually meant.

This is easier said than done though, Konoha is actually extensive and large, and for the most part, the shinobi order of things, the Tower, the Archives, the Police Station, Crypt, Intel, RnD, T&I, Konoha General, they occupied a rather small concentrated part of the entirety of Konoha. The clan grounds are scattered about, but they mostly resided in their own personal bubbles. The civilian neighborhoods are divided into districts, ranging from one, the most affluent, to presumably nine, the least affluent.

Most clanless shinobi live somewhere from district two to district five. Kakashi lived in district four, far away from all things shinobi, in a rather quaint civilian neighborhood. I'm not actually sure what they thought of the singular shinobi interloper with traps on his windows and bare walls and spartan rooms. I'm not sure they ever even saw him to begin with. Theoretically though, Kakashi still had his childhood home boarded up somewhere inside the city, part of a formerly designated clan compound.

I'm not entirely sure where nine is, and given that it is the red light district, it's highly unlikely that Kaa-san or anyone else I ask would just draw me a map with directions and point me towards it.

It is in this frame of mind that I run into Kasuga again. "Taicho? Do you have any time today?"

"I'm trying to find somewhere inside Konoha, but it's not entirely a pressing concern." I shrug. "If I could find someone to tell me where the ninth district is it would be marvelous."

Kasuga grins, and it's sly around the edges. "I know where it is." _You do? Why would you know something like that?_ "Hey, it's not like you think it is." He protests, and something in my expression must have given away my thoughts.

"I'm told it's the red light district, Kasuga-kun." I'm only gently ribbing as I'm sure there are reasons why he'd know of the place. "Aren't you supposed to be not corrupting my mind?"

"I have friends who live down there." He crosses his arms and blushes from the neck up. "You know, friends from the Genin Corps who have families who live there."

I nod. _I don't know anything about Kasuga's friends. Well, beyond me and Ito-kun that is, and I'm not really sure that Kasuga thinks I'm his friend so much as that one person that he's supposed to hero worship to stay in Sensei's good graces._ "Would you mind taking me?"

And now he frowns. "You want to walk through all of it?" And he seems to be debating with himself about the right or the wrong of taking me along on his journey. "I mean I wanted you to meet Chisa-chan, but I was thinking I could take her to your favorite tea house. You don't have to go down there." _Ito-kun's family lives in the ninth district?_

I make up my mind. "We're going to go see her." I take him by the wrist and pull him along with me. "You said she saw me as a role model didn't you? What sort of role model would I be if I didn't make the effort to meet her where she is?"

"Ah, Taicho?" Kasuga digs in his heels. "We're going the wrong way right now."

We do end up turning around and heading across the roofs the right way.

* * *

And Kasuga, while he does take me down to the ninth district, completely bypasses the larger wide streets of the upper district. Instead, he takes me to what he calls the 'lower ninth district.' "This is where you need to visit, to see actual people." He says when I ask why we are wandering in through a back alley. "The Upper District's the show, with the theatre and the water houses."

And again, water house, that useless euphemism for brothel. At least Elder Utatane hadn't minced words regarding what is going on.

"Are the people there fake?" And why would Fugaku-san, the strict traditionalist that he is, care about traditionally 'sinful' pursuits? That and from what I had seen of the storefronts, there isn't really a reason to believe that the people there needed reform.

"No, but they do put on a show and mask what the ninth district is really like." Kasuga pulls me deeper into the tangled mess of alleyways. The farther we go, the worse the buildings look. When we pull into a street that smells of sewage and waste I finally understand what it is that Fugaku-san wants to reform. The cramped living quarters, the crumbling buildings, the decay. _This must be the oldest part of Konoha for all the buildings to look this slumped._

Kasuga waves at a group of the children who pass us on the street corner. They wave back, eyes light and happy, but they are dressed in cast off clothes, and I can see their ribs through the holes. _I didn't know that such an image existed in Konoha._

I reach for my coin purse, but Kasuga sets a hand on my wrist. "Keep walking Taicho, money down here won't help them." He mutters and guides me towards one of the darkened doorways.

"Why do you say that?" I ask him. "I have at least enough money for them to buy a hot meal or two." _It might not be enough, but at least they wouldn't be starving._

Kasuga shakes his head. "Their problems aren't that simple. You give those children anything that not many other people have, and they won't be able to keep it. Not here." We're in a small cramped room that seems to double as a kitchen and a dining room as well as a guest room at this point, and there is perhaps another room in the back. He moves towards the open doorway into the back room. "Ito-san?" He asks the darkened space. "I brought you a visitor. This is Fujio's commanding officer down at the barracks."

A thin, frail woman pushes herself up from the bed sheets. "Oh, do come in." The simple phrase sends her into hacking coughs, causing Kasuga to hurry forwards and stroke her back while helping her lie back on the pillow.

"There's no need to talk, Ito-san. I just thought you should know that Fujio's in safe hands." Kasuga sits down by the side of his bed and unscrews the canteen that he pulls from his pouch and pours out some of the water in a cup. "It's better if you drink some safer water." He offers, almost tenderly, and it's the first time I've seen Kasuga tender.

He normally isn't, even in his worship Taicho actions, there's a certain amount of defensiveness, but there is none of that here. Ito Fujio's family meant something to him. Something more than I'd thought. _He said he spent New Year's here, didn't he?_

I sit down on the floor next to the low bed. "It's very nice to meet you, Ito-san." I bow awkwardly, as I am sitting down, so it's more of a head bob than anything else, but a delighted smile spreads across Ito-san's face. There's a warm amount of color in her cheeks, but it borders on an unnatural redness and I can't help but feel that it's because she's sick.

However, true to Kasuga's warning, she doesn't say much more, she just nods and gestures towards the door. Kasuga turns back to me. "Can you stay here with Ito-san for a bit while I go find Chisa-chan?"

I nod. "Of course."

* * *

The girl that I meet, Ito-kun's baby sister, Chisa-chan looks only slightly better fed than the children Kasuga and I'd passed on the street, but she is chatty and boisterous, and completely happy in a way that slightly reminds me of Muta's little sister, Hisae-chan. Their personalities might be night and day, but both girls, despite their different backgrounds, seemed to want for nothing more in the entire world.

"You're already a chunin at age nine! That has to be some sort of record." She takes one look at my flak jacket and runs a hand down the side. "It's so beautiful, Hana-san!"

I laugh, not at her wide eyed enthusiasm, but rather at the thought that I'd made some sort of record. "The most famous prodigy graduated Academy at five, and made chunin at six." I lean in to whisper in her ear. "He's currently in the Hokage's personal guard." _Kakashi is the most gifted of all of Konoha's prodigies at the moment._

 _And originally only Itachi surpassed his ANBU record by becoming a captain by age thirteen, but that was born of desperation._

"But he's a _boy._ " Chisa-chan seems disappointed. "You're the first girl I've heard of that's so brilliant."

I decide to take it as a compliment, and we move on to other topics.

* * *

Afterwards I make sure to take detailed notes of the possible reform plans that I could see by simply walking about and observing. There are new building plans, new sewage plans, new education plans, new business district plans, new medical reform plans, everything needs to be redone, and rebuilt to bring the place to a decent standard of living.

And then I request a meeting with the Hokage, because if he isn't willing to discuss the ninth district during a meeting of clan heads perhaps he'd be able to point me in the right direction to request that someone give me the funds, and the manpower for reform. _I wonder if Fugaku-san has done this before._

The Hokage does not meet with me, perhaps he is busy as my trip to the Tower is an unplanned one, but I get the feeling that he just doesn't want to deal with the scrolls that I'd brought with me. Instead, I am led to a different office, and shown in. "Inuzuka-chan."

I bow automatically. It had been a woman's voice. "Elder Utatane."

"You submitted a request to see Hiruzen this morning?" She sounds neither cross, nor unhappy, but more amused than anything else. _I will never understand people._

"Ah, yes." I step forward and place the stack of scrolls that I'd used to categorize the various problems I found in the ninth district on her desk. "I researched the ninth district after the meeting last month, and then I visited. Here's a list of the problems I found and various possible solutions that I've come up with for remedying some of the issues."

"Sit down, Inuzuka-chan." Elder Utatane gestures towards a chair. "You seem to have inherited Uchiha Fugaku's dreams for cultivating Konoha." She remarks and takes a sip of her tea while perusing the scroll closest to her. _You say that almost like it's a bad thing._

"I do not understand why no one is willing to consider Fugaku-san's plans." I respond. I'm not sure how to feel. I'd spoken with the Sandaime before. While I didn't understand his actions, I could at least reasonably predict his reactions. I can't predict hers. I know nothing about her beyond her history as the Sandaime's teammate.

"We are the Hokage's advisers. The Hokage deals with the daily life of the shinobi within Konoha as well as Konoha's military prosperity." Elder Utatane sighs. "Civilian issues are left for the Civilian Council to work through, we may only offer suggestions. It has been years and Uchiha Fugaku has yet to understand that just because he wants something to occur does not mean that Hokage can Katon Jutsu his way through the members of the Civilian Council."

The Hokage couldn't twist arms to get his way? My mind flashes back to Koma-senpai standing at the Winter Festival, the black band of cloth over his eyes. _What was Koma-senpai's face the result of? The Hokage being kind and generous?_ "Why can't that happen?"

Elder Utatane passes my scrolls back to me. "Take these to the Civilian Council meeting at the end of the week." Her face is a blankly polished slate. "This village needs it's civilian clans as well, Inuzuka-chan. Do try not to stick your foot in your mouth while there much more than necessary." _But I thought the civilian clans didn't have any power?_

I am left with more questions than answers as I make my way out the door.

* * *

As it is a month over the half year mark that Fugaku-san had asked for for me to turn in my application for the Military Police, and I really needed to talk to him again, I fill out an application form and head over to the Station to deliver it myself.

I'm under no delusions that I'll be accepted to a job on the spot. The acquiring a job part is slightly less important than the talk to Fugaku-san part though, so I bring him flowers to make sure that he will be in a good mood.

He glances up from a pile of paper when I step through the door of his office. "Explanation?"

"Jasmines for friendliness and violets for honesty." I remark, and slide them into the small vase at the edge of his desk. It's an addition that wasn't there when I'd first visited, but I assume that Fugaku-san is simply being prepared. When I look up, there's a strange expression on his face. _He doesn't look happy, but he doesn't look sad either. Nostalgic? Is it even possible that he's nostalgic about flowers?_ "Fugaku-san?" I ask. "Is there something wrong with the flowers?" If there are, well I wouldn't be able to ask him about the ninth district reforms that I'd outlined today.

"No." He turns back to me, and pauses as he attempts to find the right words, or the right way to say it. "It was merely disconcerting." _It is not the act of giving him flowers that is disconcerting then, I've done that before. It's the flowers themselves that are unusually disconcerting today. What about jasmines or violets would be so disconcerting?_ He gestures to the chair in front of him. "Sit, Inuzuka-chan."

I had over the application for the Military Police force. "I hope you can forgive my impatience, Fugaku-san."

Fugaku-san snorts. "This is not what you came for this time." And I can almost hear the frustration and amusement in his voice in equal measure. _Do I understand him more now? Because at times I do know what he's feeling._

I set the other scrolls on his desk. "This is what I'm here for." I cannot help but believe that there is something changing in the air. "That and I wanted to ask for help as to how I should go about meeting the Civilian Council."

Fugaku-san glances at the contents of the first scroll, and then looks back at me. "Where did you get this interest in the ninth district?" His face is stone again, totally blank. The violets in the vase must have seemed mocking to him. _Is honesty so hard to find in your life? Or is it friendliness that is lacking?_

"From you, Fugaku-san." He needs to know that he's inspired at least one person. Perhaps it would help him.

He sets the scroll down. "The Civilian Council has not cared about poverty for many years." He rises to stand at the window, where the sun sets down the street, lights dancing on the water of the Naka River. "I expect that they never will."

My feet move of their own accord and I wander over to stand with him. _We're looking at the edges of the richest civilian district right now. Fugaku-san looks at this every day._ "Why doesn't Hokage-sama want to speak to you about this then?" It might be impertinent, but I still want to know.

Fugaku-san does not respond, and when I look up at him, I find that his eyes are closed. "Hokage-sama does not believe in the Uchiha." He says at last, his eyes still closed, his grip tightening on the window ledge. "And he has not for some time." He turns back to his desk and drops my application into one of his desk drawers. "You may expect to start work next month."

"Thank you, Fugaku-san." There wouldn't be anything else I could say. _At least visiting the Civilian Council would still be a good idea._

 _Perhaps Fugaku-san misread their intentions._

But I don't entirely believe that. And the task I'd set myself looked more insurmountable than ever. _I need someone who can read people, and read them well to explain things to me. Sensei and Kiho-baachan?_

* * *

 **A.N.** And in this chapter we have new Nara character, more Kasuga, visiting the ninth district, some more politics, and Uchiha Fugaku. (Anyone who's read Some Fall By Virtue knows exactly what's wrong with jasmines and violets.)

I believe next chapter will have more fun interactions instead of being so somber.

Thank you to WhiteFang001, Yuki Suou (More of your favorite interaction! That and I type very quickly, it's over 7 years of practice in the making.), MissFroogy (This isn't entirely a Danzo problem, because not everything is about him.), Reasonable Man, Sindrasil, LitteMissSugarLess, L1mey (I'm so glad you like it!), libraryrockerr (I like this Fugaku more too, he seems a little more human.), LeechPrincess, May525, Fushigibana (It's a part of Nara Kasuga's character to be arrogant. It's his armor.), Guest One (Well, Hana does do some research.), Sam (Toku and Muta are three years older than Hana, and Kakashi's about 7-8 years older than her.), Wingalzk, Guest Two, 01 (I'm so glad you liked it! I do love Team Ensui.), DuxTell, Born to Sleep, and AnimeFreak71777 (Welcome to Bloodless! I do try to give my characters depth, and I'm glad you found that to be true.) for reviewing.

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

You guys are the best.

~Tavina.


	47. Military Police Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Sensei? Kiho-baachan?" I call as I slip off my sandals and step over the dark threshold of their house. It's no longer quite team dinner, but I do have a standing invitation to come over, and Mu-kun's in the village again, so we decided it would be best to come together at Sensei's house.

"Oh look at you, duckling!" Kiho-baachan presses a kiss to my forehead, and spins me around. "Our very own clan heiress!" She squeals, and looks so happy. _Almost like I'm her daughter, the only daughter that she'll ever have._

Sensei appears from beyond the doorway. "She's been a clan heiress since January, Vicious Hag." He drawls, his hands in his pockets.

Kiho-baachan waves the technicalities away. "Oh don't be daft, Waste of Space, I didn't formally congratulate her since we didn't go to the celebrations." She smirks lightly at him, teal eyes dancing. "Of course you wouldn't care about the feeling of things."

"And you wouldn't care about the logic." Sensei's deeply amused, the corners of his lips are turned up in a lazy smile, and his posture is exactly the same as before he'd messed with his soul.

"Are you alright?" I bounce over to him and take him by the hand so we could walk down the hall together. "I don't need to be afraid for you anymore?" _Why did you never mention Kiho-baachan's injury? Are we the only children you'll ever have, Sensei? Is that why you love us so much?_ These are questions I cannot ask. While I may be blunt, they are too sensitive to ever broach before Sensei or Kiho-baachan ever mentioned them.

"Hana-chan." Sensei's hand lands in my hair. "Another year and five months."

Exactly two years then, since the exams in Iwa is when he thinks he will be well again, but he looks alive now, alive and well and I will take what I can get. "Alright, Sensei."

"Hana!" Toku bursts out of the makeup room, eyeliner and blush messily smeared across his face. "I look like a blind panda..." He moans and pulls me in for a hug. "I don't know how anyone ever does this, much less a courtesan who has to do something worse every day."

I pat him on the back consolingly. "Go wash it off before the rest of them get here to laugh at you."

"It's too late for that." Muta's straightening up after having slipped off his sandals. "We just need Ita-kun to memorize this with his eyes forever, and it will be eternal, for at least one of us."

"I got it." Itachi steps out from behind Muta, a delighted smile on his face. "Toku, you will never live this down. You'll be Blind Panda Hyuga Boy for the rest of our lives."

Toku lets go of me with a growl. "I'll show you Blind Panda Boy!" He lunges after Itachi who employs some skillful dodging skills. "Come back here, Idiot-Tensai-sama!"

Itachi artfully hides behind Sensei. "Sensei! Sensei!" He mock swoons in a fit of dramatics arms flailing. "Save me, Sensei!"

Sensei pries Itachi off of him and pushes him into Toku's waiting arms. "Itachi-kun, I'm not a shield."

The look on Itachi's face is priceless, especially since we all knew that Sensei is the greatest shield of all. Muta pats Itachi on the shoulder consolingly. "At least you lived happily, Ita-kun."

Toku turns his glare on Muta next. "Don't think I'm done with you, Mu-kun." He points dramatically at me as Itachi tries to wriggle from his grasp. "Only Hana was nice enough to tell me to wash my face! Hana is my best friend now."

Muta mock gasps. "I'm so hurt, Toku."

And Kiho-baachan's giggles wrap us all in a comforting warmth. "Come along ducklings! Food is waiting!"

We filter laughingly into the kitchen, and I know that I cannot ask Sensei or Kiho-baachan for help. Their world is happy enough on the surface, but Sensei is still unwell.

I cannot ask him to worry more over people that he doesn't even know. There is a limit to how much I can ask of the people in my life. If I am to help the ninth district, I will have to take responsibility for it with my own hands and no one else's.

* * *

I go back to visit Suzaku-san in the Archives. Since talking to Sensei would only make him more worried, I'm hopeful that Suzaku-san would have more information that he'd be willing to share. I'm standing in front of him, plans spread out over his desk. "Do you suppose that you could find me the cost of rebuilding an entire district?"

He tilts his head back, his hands laced together behind his head, and looks at me through half shut eyes. "Yeah, that's in the Archives, Shelf 180B. The number's tremendous though."

I pull over a chair and sit down. "Do you suppose that Hokage-sama doesn't care about Yoshiwara?"

Suzaku-san stubs the end of his cigar in the ashtray and sighs. "I think he does." He bops me lightly on the head. "Hokage-sama's not the devil, you know." There's a lazy expression on his face as he leans farther back into his chair. "You've inherited my dear cousin's cynicism. Not everyone hates being a good person, yeah? And not all good people do great things all the time. "

Yes, perhaps I'm like Sensei in that regard as he doesn't seem to like the Sandaime much either, but my own interactions with the man have not predisposed me to like him or believe in the goodness of his heart. "But then why hasn't he done anything?" I counter.

"He can't really." Suzaku-san lights another cigar, and blows out a cloud of smoke. _Smoking will kill you._ That's what I know of years of health classes pounding it into my head in another life, but Suzaku-san is a shinobi, and shinobi take their happiness where they can get it. Even though he works in administration, an enemy will probably kill him earlier than lung cancer. "The shinobi administration relies on the civilians to give them money for most of the missions that we take." And that makes a bit of sense, but it doesn't cover everything.

"Could you please explain?" I prop my elbows up on his desk even though the smoke around him is a bit smothering. _I don't know enough. I have to learn._

"Well, the civilians commission a lot of the D, C, and B rank missions, yeah?" Suzaku-san gestures towards the Archives. "Those make a lot of the money the Tower needs to keep running. Hokage-sama does have to rely on civilians being happy enough to come to Konoha instead of somewhere else for their labor."

"But if the shinobi need civilians." I muse. "Surely the civilians would appreciate districts that aren't falling down?"

"That's why the politics of Yoshiwara is such a mess." Suzaku-san groans. "Far as I know about it, Nidaime-sama built it to please the nobles, and those are all civilians who have some sort of stake in making money down there." _So that's why it's the red light district. It still doesn't explain everything._

"I read about that in the scrolls you gave me last time. The nobles are both the patrons and the owners of various brothels in Yoshiwara." I tilt my head slightly away as Suzaku-san exhales again.

"Well, Yoshiwara's just a tangled knot. It makes a lot of money." He taps his cigar against the ashtray. "Since the red light district is specifically to please the nobles, improving the rest of Yoshiwara is always met with resistance."

"They don't want to change the poverty in the district because it would mess with their fun?" That's just wrong. Even if they made money off of it, it is a dirty money built on the suffering of others.

"Did you ever meet a woman who wanted to be a prostitute if she could be doing something else?" Suzaku-san muses rather cynically. "I'm sure there are some, but not nearly enough to sustain the current level of employment down there, or pay for the glamour. Most girls in the red light district end up there because the upper district's just so much more appealing and glamorous than the life they could lead if they stayed in the lower district." The thought makes me sick. _What sort of social system is that?_

"So Hokage-sama does have his hands tied." I sigh. It is easier to blame the problems on the complacency of the Sandaime than it is to realize that the thing is all about desire and money. No wonder Fugaku-san's spent years on it, and come to the hopeless conclusion that the Civilian Council just doesn't care about poverty. They might find empathy in their hearts, but a good deal of them also made a lot of money off of the current situation. Asking them to give it up out of the goodness of their hearts is like asking a man addicted to opium to give up his pipe. "He can't do anything about the lower part of the ninth district, because it's only through poverty that young women end up working in the upper part, and the nobles would withdraw their legitimate businesses if Yoshiwara became less profitable and exciting."

"Something like that." Suzaku-san pats me on the head. "Social change is hard, gaki."

I manage a smile for him. "I'm sure I'll be able to find some sort of change." I close my eyes and take a deep breath. _I haven't visited the Civilian Council yet. I still need to go before I decide on anything else._ "Thanks for talking to me, Suzaku-san."

He laughs. "No problem. It gets dull down here sometimes without anyone to talk to."

And then I step out into the sun.

* * *

I walk down to the Civilian Town Hall in the downtown portion of Konoha with all of my plans sealed in a storage scroll. I have more of an understanding of how the situation with the ninth district works now, but I've yet to know which Civilian Clans had their hands in the scheme, Suzaku-san hadn't been able to tell me that, since it's superfluous in the face of how many S-ranked ninja Kumo could field and other such information. _Surely it won't be all of them._

 _If it is all of them, I could ask to talk to the Daimyo._ I don't know how I would be able to persuade Kaa-san to visit Kakunodate, and specifically the palace of the Daimyo himself, but I could probably manage it somehow. _I've caught his wife's cat enough times to request an audience._

The Civilian Council is held in the town hall, and as I step into the building, I know it is not going to be the same as the Clan Head meeting with the Hokage.

The sheer number of people here is tremendous, but it is soon very clear who's here to lodge a complaint and who's here because they are a part of the power structure. Shinobi don't often wear showy clothing, because we prefer function instead of beauty, but civilians are different. The ones who hold power wear silk and satin, fine embroidery, intricate patterns in knotting their obis, and hairstyles that border on far too elaborate even for the men, and all the showy people sat on the dais above the general assembly.

"We call this session to order." An old man in the front rings a bell and everyone stops and bows towards him.

Well, everyone except me, because I have no idea that everyone else would be bowing. That and most Inuzuka didn't bow on a daily basis either.

"You there." The old man is staring at me with his bushy eyebrows drawn together. "What's your name?"

"Inuzuka Hana." _Is he going to blame me for not conforming? Is there something else happening? What's going on?_

"A shinobi clan...the Inuzuka..." He steps off the front dais and walks towards me, the crowd parting. "What does a shinobi want from the Civilian Council?" Whispering breaks out in the crowd. 'What's going on?' 'That's a shinobi? She's just a little girl.' 'Don't you see the fangs on her cheeks?'

I suppose it is an unusual occurrence for a member of the Shinobi forces to visit the Civilian Council. We generally had our own council to complain to. "I'm here regarding the ninth district." I present him with my storage scroll of plans. "It is a civilian issue. I was recommended to speak with the Civilian Council regarding the matter."

"Surely there's no reason to talk about the ninth district when it is so profitable." A younger man rises and addresses the crowd. The tip of his long high tail is dyed blue, and he very clearly wears makeup. There are dragons stitched on his formal kimono, and I gather that he is probably important. I also gather that he is probably an ass who deserves to get punched in the face.

"I agree." A middle aged woman gestures towards the map of Konoha on the opposite wall. "Elder Nakatomi, we should move on to other affairs. The ninth district will continue to thrive just the way it is."

"Have you ever been there?" Even if it is for money that they're doing this, even so. I cannot watch them shove this under a tatami mat and forget about it. _There are people who will continue to suffer if nothing is done. They have no voice, but I have a throat that works just fine. I will speak for them._

A collective giggle goes up from the women and younger girls seated on the dais. "How vulgar." The middle aged woman turns her powdered face towards me. "What good woman would ever want to visit the red light district?" The insult falls a little flat though. I am only nearly ten years old-a part of my mind tries to remind me that I am much older than that, but I push it away, _I am nearly ten-_ and I look exactly that. There's no one in the room who'd believe her vile insinuation. _Heavens, did they imply that Fugaku-san was-_ I can't even think of how angry it must have made him if the woman before me had said 'What good man would ever-' It is a shock that the Town Hall is not a pile of ash and rubble.

"I don't think I am a woman yet." I mutter under my breath. "But if you haven't been there." I pitch my voice a little louder so that everyone in the room can hear me. "Then you don't know what the lives of the people there are like. And I can tell you."

Elder Nakatomi takes my scroll but does not open it. "We have many affairs we need to accomplish today, Inuzuka-chan." He gestures towards the waiting masses all around us. "These good people have waited for a month to speak regarding their many issues. Each one must be heard in turn."

 _So I am to be at the end of the line then. I can afford to have patience. The work I am requesting is not the efforts of a day or a week or a month or even a year. It will take a long time to improve._ "And when should I return to have my complaint heard, Elder Nakatomi?"

He turns to return to the dais. "The complaints are many, Inuzuka-chan. Perhaps we will reach yours next month. Or the month after that. Who can say?"

"But my complaint will be heard." I could be patient, but I will not wait forever. There are not an infinite number of people before me in this line.

"Your complaint will be heard." And with that, it seems that I am dismissed. There is nothing else I can accomplish tonight except making my complaint less valid by throwing a fit. I turn and go.

* * *

I turn up at the police station two weeks later at about six thirty as the sun rises over the streets. _Fugaku-san didn't tell me when I am supposed to arrive, or what I'm supposed to be doing when I get here._

I just show up early, the Ni and San lagging behind me, and Ichi walking by my side. "Hana." Ichi observes. "We will be ten soon."

"You are already ten." I reply. The Triplets are three months older than I am, and April is just around the corner. I will turn ten soon.

"Will we celebrate this year?" And this question is one that I do not want to answer. Tou-san had died the twelfth of April almost five years ago. My birthday is the thirteenth.

"I don't know." The family tradition is to grieve alone. Kaa-san spent the evening looking over old photographs, laughing and crying over each one. Kiba and I sat vigil down in the clan cemetery by Tou-san's graveside, while I told him as many stories as I could remember about the man who is the father to both of us. The clan made themselves scarce. "Perhaps our cousins will want to stage a party, or some sort of gathering." I doubt it though, not even the most insensitive of my cousins are _that_ insensitive. On April twelfth we grieve. On April thirteenth we move on, but we most certainly do not _celebrate._

I haven't had a birthday celebration in years, and no birthday presents since Tou-san's sixth birthday present which consists of a pair of knives that I'd set aside, too precious to ever use, and no Tou-san to teach me how.

The station is locked when I arrive, so I sit down on the steps, the Triplets sprawling all around me.

I don't expect any one to turn up until Fugaku-san or another of my coworkers decide to open the station, so of course someone, or rather, several someones have to show up at right about now.

"YOSH! YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM OF SPRINGTIME!" Gai races by while balancing on his thumbs. He flips to his feet halfway down the street, and runs towards me in a slightly saner fashion. "YOU SHOULD COME ALONG FOR A JOG!" He gestures towards Kakashi who is-very slowly-making his own way down the street while reading Icha Icha. "MY HIP AND COOL RIVAL HAS JOINED ME TODAY!" He jogs in place for a brief moment, waits until Kakashi has caught up just a little, and races off, a dust cloud rising in his wake.

"I can't." I respond and point up at the sign above my head, a little too late. "I start work today."

"Maa..." Kakashi picks me up by the back of my collar like a misbehaving puppy. "Being on time is overrated. You should just come with us instead!"

His eye smile is so irritating that for a brief moment I consider clawing his face off, but then I remember that one, he's Hatake Kakashi, I won't be able to claw his face off even if I tried my very best, and two, he's Hatake Kakashi and some of the time I am actually concerned about his well being, so I shouldn't damage him or else I would need to drag him to the hospital. _Well, that's irritating._ I settle for shocking him slightly with a very small bit of Raiton chakra. "Kakashi..." I am about to call him Kakashi-san by reflex, but something about him seems to frown although I can only see a single eye, and I remember his New Year's wish- _He wants me to call him Kakashi-_ and I can't do it. "Put me down. I'm not a puppy."

From somewhere behind me, all three of the Triplets growl in unison. "Listen to the queen, Irritant."

He promptly drops me, and it is only training with Koma-senpai that prevents me from crumpling to an ungainly heap in the middle of the street. "You're so uncute, Hana-chan."

Someone clears his throat behind me. "Hatake." And there's a subtle thread of displeasure magnified a thousand times through only that single word. It reverberates down the street, and Kakashi looks almost like a small boy with his hand caught in the cookie jar.

I turn myself around. _Oh, well, that doesn't look good. He looks even more displeased than his resting face, which means it must be true fury this time._

"Maa...Fugaku-san!" Kakashi chirps cheerfully. "I didn't know you came to this part of the city!"

And now that is just daft. "We are literally just outside the police station, Kakashi." I attempt to pull him down so I can check his temperature. _Is he sick again? These sorts of mistakes cannot be normal, or something that he just does. It's far too weird._ "This is Fugaku-san's _daily workplace._ Of course, he's here all the time!" Unfortunately for me, Kakashi is very good at not being pulled down to my level when he doesn't want to be.

I don't get to check his temperature before he wiggles free, and promptly moves at least three feet away.

Fugaku-san clears his throat again. "Inuzuka-chan. My office. Now."

And I would really prefer not to be out of work by the end of the day. Being booted from the Military Police Force because Kakashi's a troll would just be so sad and stupid that I won't ever be able to show my face in public again. _I'll talk to you later, Kakashi._

* * *

I follow Fugaku-san down the hall with something akin to trepidation. Itachi has mentioned that I am in his father's good graces, and Fugaku-san himself has never been unkind, but he is still probably irritated that I'd been having an almost argument with Kakashi right in front of his police station.

"Fugaku-san?" It is hard to ask, and he doesn't turn around. _What if he stops liking me? What if Itachi misinterpreted what his father's thinking? Heaven knows that it would be easy enough._

"Taicho." When he finally does, his face is stone again, and there is no sign of anger, but no sign of happiness either. "When we are at the station, you ought to call me Taicho."

I bow. "Yes, of course, Taicho."

Fugaku-san pushes my shoulder up so that I'm standing straight again. "Here." There's a package in his other hand. "Your uniform." He states very simply.

"Thank you." I pull the shirt out of the brown paper. It is black, with long sleeves and a simple collar instead of the wide brim ones that are so common in the Uchiha district. There is just one thing... "Taicho?"

Fugaku-san turns his eyes back towards me, and inclines his head.

"There is," I turn the left sleeve towards him. "An Uchiwa on this shirt." And the traditional Uchiha Fan is stitched onto the shirt inside the four pointed star, and I know that the large majority of military police officers are Uchiha, so wearing it isn't a problem for them, but the ones that are not Uchiha do not wear the clan symbol for a very important reason: wearing clothing with another clan's symbol on them is considered an informal adoption.

In history, actual adoptions had been made this way, no fanfare, no consideration, just passing a child a shirt, but now, in more modern times the gesture is more symbolic, especially as I am clan heiress. I cannot be actually adopted, but it is an offer of familial attachment and concern all the same. As it is Fugaku-san who gave me the shirt, he is offering to be my adoptive father. _Is it really what he means or did he overlook the Uchiwa?_

Something in Fugaku-san's expression changes, and it is most likely not for the better. "I just wanted to ask," And I am fumbling over my words again because this is the Uchiha clan head that I'm speaking to, _he knows all of these customs because he lives practically up to his neck in tradition. How would a man as careful and deliberate as Uchiha Fugaku forget something as important as this?_ "If you meant it." I finish. "If you-" _Tou-san._ I think almost despairingly. _Would you be alright? I do not think that you would mind, would you?_

 _No._ I decide, and the voice my thoughts take sounds like Tou-san.

 _I would be happy, my Blossom._

"I never do anything that I do not mean." Fugaku-san takes the shirt from me and slips it over my head in a single gesture, quick and fluid, sure and absolute. "And I mean exactly what you think I mean, musume."

 _Daughter._ And there is a pricking in my eyes that does not have anything to do with tears because I am too old to cry. "Thank you."

He hands me a sheet of paper. "You have patrol with Inabi." The details are on the paper so he doesn't have to talk more than he has to, I'm sure. _It is like him to be short of words, but full of action._

I wipe my eyes with the sleeve of my new shirt, and maybe that's somewhat terrible of me, using this gift as a way to dry my tears, but I do not think that the man in front of me minds. Maybe we finally understand each other. "Un."

Fugaku-san interrupts my journey towards his door to go find Uchiha Inabi. "Come to dinner tonight, Hana."

I nod. "Yes, of course, Chichi." _Father._

And the smile on his face is visible, even in the half light of the morning sun. "I will look forward to it."

* * *

 **A.N.** For anyone who has not yet checked out Mother! by Mizudoriko (my awesome younger sis), they should go and do that. It's a lot of fun, and bound to make you laugh a lot more than Bloodless.

This chapter begins and ends with Hana's living father figures, with a touch of more political intrigue on the side. Like I said before, more light hearted interactions. That and Kakashi, Gai, and all of Team Ensui made appearances, however small, this chapter! That and Itachi's chapter, A Walk Through Fire, is live on Ashen! If you haven't seen it yet go over and check it out. :D

Next chapter, Military Police/Shisui shenanigans and such. (Probably. I have a hard time writing Shisui, and he's being evasive. He was supposed to appear this chapter, but he didn't want to. Augh.)

Thank you so much to LittleMissSugarLess, AnimeFreak7177 (:P), LadyScatty (Fugaku is indeed a cinnamon roll. He's also at his highest point yet this chapter. That and Itachi and Kakashi both made the chapter, however briefly!), WhiteFang001 (Well, I mean the meeting with the Civilian Council could have gone worse, but some things in life are lukewarm at best.), the yeah (Japanese has a specific word of ten thousand, much like Chinese, so fifty hundred thousand is sort of a direct translation of how I would have said it...if it bothers people I suppose I will go back and fix it.), libraryrockerr, Seredipithy, morpheusandmuse (I love your name!), and Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf (If you've gotten this far, some things you've noticed have been explained. :P) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed. We passed two hundred favorites!

~Tavina.


	48. Military Police Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I've met Uchiha Inabi before. He's been sitting at the reception desk years earlier when I'd first entered the Station to find Fugaku- _Chichi._ I remind myself. _He is Chichi now and he is Taicho inside the station-_ purple hyacinths in tow. The years have blurred his features though, and I have no idea which one of the many men milling about inside the main foyer he happens to be.

Still clutching the sheet of paper that Chichi-Taicho gave me earlier, I stride towards the older man sitting at the reception desk. There's a book of Sudoku puzzles under his arm. "Excuse me, Uchiha-san?"

His answering smile is welcoming. "Yes?"

"Could you point me in the direction of Uchiha Inabi-san?" I proffer the sheet of paper that I have. "I am supposed to go patrol..." I glance down, Taicho's handwriting is neat and almost calligraphic even though the words are in pen and not brush. In the many years I've spent in this universe, my messy scrawl has stuck with me. _It seems that not even ten years of reading Kanji and writing both it and Hiragana could get rid of my English roots._ "The commercial area in the second civilian district with him this week."

"Ah." The older man gestures towards one of the briefing rooms. "Inabi is in room 2B. There's been an investigation going on in the fourth district recently, and Inabi's a part of the team that's been working on it." He turns back to smile at me, clicking his pen. "Call me Kagen, Inuzuka-chan. There are too many Uchihas running about here to use our last name for all of us."

"Then you must call me Hana-chan, Kagen-san." I respond, and bow politely in his direction. Then I head down the hall towards briefing room 2B, the Triplets clicking along behind me.

"Inabi-san?" I really should have waited until I actually stepped into the room. There's a roomful of about six or seven Uchiha men and women, and they are all staring at me in total silence.

Finally, finally, one of the Uchiha men detaches himself from their huddle and stands up. "Yes?" There's an edge of irritation in his voice that I do not like. _Would it kill you to not sound like you'd rather be anywhere but here?_

Still, since I'm working on keeping a lid on my temper, I do my level best to smile like the sun is shining over my head. I hold the paper out to him. "Taicho says that we're on border patrol duty together for the next week."

He almost snatches the paper from my hand and scans it in absolute silence. The only sound in the room is the ticking of the wall clock and eight people breathing. He shoots me a poisonous glare and stalks towards the door. "Well, what are you waiting for?" Inabi throws over his shoulder. "Don't stand around gathering dust."

 _Yep. It just might kill him to be nice._

With a sigh, I follow him. Ichi bumps my hand but says nothing. I pat his head in commiseration. "Let's not be hasty right?"

* * *

Inabi tosses a wireless radio headpiece and hands me a clip to attach it to my collar. Then he throws me a rather heavy belt with several pouches on it. I don't have time to check what the pouches are holding. "We keep these while on the job." I clip it to my collar, secure the belt around my waist, and he stalks off again and tosses me a single baton. "Why am I the one on baby sitting duty?"

"Well, maybe you upset Taicho somehow." I mutter. _Or maybe Chichi wants me to suffer because I was making a ruckus in front of the station this morning by setting me up for a week of patrol with someone who's touchy and frustrated._

He whirls around. "Just be quiet." And then he's almost stomping down the street.

"Ah, Inabi-san?" I tug on his sleeve very gently. "You'll get arthritis when you're older if you keep doing that." And it's true that excessive stomping will lead to joint problems even though stomping about for a day probably won't do much more than give him sore feet. I can't be upset with him, honestly because I am rather small compared to the rest of the people inside the station, and he didn't seem much like the patient type.

Besides, he hasn't said anything mean about me. He's just been short, largely because he's frustrated about something. I don't know what it is, but he hasn't been neglectful either. He's outfitted me just fine. He's still doing what he's supposed to be doing. He's just also...rather unpleasant about it.

"Do you even know what I'm losing while I'm stuck here with you?" Inabi throws his hands up in the middle of the street, jerking his sleeve from my light grip so easily I'm not even sure he noticed that I'd still been holding his sleeve. "I was leading that investigation!" The Triplets growl, but I set my hand on San's head, and they fall silent.

Oh. Well, that does make it look like his taicho hated him. _To have pulled the leader of the investigation out for a week to supervise a new trainee...what was Chichi thinking?_ But then I remember that his actions always spoke louder than words. _I have to look at this from his perspective._

"Does Ch-Taicho trust you more than most people?" Because it would be like Chichi to be subtly overprotective. _Actions, always actions, almost never words. If Inabi is a trusted member of the force, then maybe Chichi means to leave me with someone that will supposedly take care of me._

"What does that have to do with anything?" Inabi sounds like he's about to have a mental breakdown in the street. "I thought he liked me before this!" _So that is what Chichi meant._

I turn my left shoulder towards him. "What do you know about Taicho, Inabi-san?"

I see the slight widening of his eyes, see the exact moment he takes in the Uchiwa on my shoulder and exactly what it means, and he's slightly calmer now. "So that's how it is." He mumbles as he turns away. "He's not upset that I let the suspect off yesterday after all."

"What was the investigation about?" And now that he's no longer frustrated, Inabi isn't all that bad. There are many worse people in the world. _Ones that actually tear people apart. Ones that look the other way when pain happens right beneath their noses. Ones that don't deserve the title of human being._ The man beside me is as human as they come. He's frustrated by perceived slights. He has his own problems. He makes mistakes and he acknowledges them enough.

"There was a man murdered in the fourth district down at a bar. Fourth one in as many months tied to the same suspect." Inabi shoves his hands in his pockets and slouches against a wall. "I might've found the suspect, but lost her again after being stupid."

Ichi perks up. "Did he touch her? Does he have something of the suspect's?"

I glance down at him. "You want to go on a chase?"

Ni blinks at me as though I'm slow. "It's been forever since we've had a chase, Hana!"

San flops down, his head on his paws. "If we never use anything that Sensei taught us, we'd be stupid."

And fair is fair. _We were trained for a situation just like this one. Tracking is in our blood. It would be sad to forget that._ "Did you take something of the suspect's?" I gesture towards the Triplets. "My partners are volunteering to stage a chase."

Inabi sighs, and runs a hand through his long hair. "If I lost you, Taicho would kill me." _I suppose._ But I will have none of that. _If it means so much to you, we're going to catch that woman._ I make a slight motion towards the Triplets, tapping my fingers against the kunai in my pouch. Ichi's ear flicks forwards towards San. San huffs once and Ni's ears flick back.

Inabi's fingering something in his pouch, and Ni darts forward and snatches it the moment his hand strays away from it. "I've got the scent!" He barks from around the pouch and races off down the street.

Ichi and San are two blurred streaks right beside him. _They must really be bored. I guess we don't go on enough chases._ I feel the muscles in my legs bunch and _move._ My brothers are on a chase, and I am after them. "Sorry, Inabi-san! Try to keep up!" And I pass his shocked face, a peal of laughter ringing in the dusty street.

Inabi curses, and follows after us. "Get back here, brat!"

* * *

We flit down a side street somewhere in the fifth district, chakra pulled towards my nose. I do not know if I'm running on two feet or four, but the scent is burned in my mind, that perfume is strong, and the chase is on.

Down another old street, past an alleyway, we double back on our trail twice as Inabi just follows us, having given up on getting us back to the second district about two whole hours ago. We count it as a success.

Ichi growls and leaps through an open doorway, a woman's surprised gasp, and the rest of us are through as well. I have the baton locked across the throat of the woman on the floor in a heartbeat, the scent of blood and decaying flesh heavy on my tongue. "Is this the suspect that got away yesterday?" The woman thrashes, but she's still civilian enough, barely enough chakra training to have passed the first two years of the Academy curriculum. I've earned my chunin vest.

Now that I am normal again, the room comes back into focus. There's an open freezer along one wall, and it is filled with meat. I don't want to know what or who those carefully preserved specimens were. _It wasn't a perfume after all._

 _It was the scent of blood and flesh. And it clings to her like perfume._

"Yes." Inabi snaps a pair of handcuffs on the still thrashing woman and forces her to get up.

She looks normal, blue eyes, dirty blonde hair. Except for the hideous expression twisting her features, and the scent of blood clinging to her, she might have been just an average woman. "Uchiha." She spits. "You'll all get your dues."

Inabi looks straight ahead, and doesn't even flinch when the spit lands on his cheek. He doesn't bother wiping it off either. _That's unexpected. It's almost as if he's used to it._ "You've been arrested. Your house here, will be sealed off as it's now a suspected crime scene." He glances at me. "There's tape in your belt. Seal off all the civilian exits." And then he's marching the woman out into the street, speaking rapidly into his wireless radio. "Yes, suspect for Case File: 0783 apprehended. We're in the fifth district, roughly the east end of Karasuma Street. There's just two of us, send a team." He sounds almost resigned.

Another team is dispatched to the location post haste.

* * *

"So, just so you know." Inabi whispers out of the corner of his mouth, as we stand in front of Chichi's office door. "Taicho's going to be very mad at us."

"Taicho." Chichi's voice sounds from somewhere behind his door, and we both wince. _We're still wearing radios aren't we. Does Chichi have one?_ "Can hear everything you two are saying."

Well, I guess that solves the mystery. "It was my idea." I announce through the door. "Inabi-san is innocent."

The door opens. "Inabi will be punished." _Later_ hangs in the air like a funeral shroud. Inabi takes one look at the lightning sparking in Chichi's eyes, and scoots down the hall, an apologetic look in my direction. A hand lands on my shoulder, and I'm pulled forwards.

The door shuts with a deceptively soft click after me before even Ichi can attempt to wriggle in after me. _Am I getting booted from the Police Force? Is he really really really regretting the Uchiwa on my shirt right now?_

"I am vain." Chichi announces, as if this is something that I should know. _What does that have to do with anything?!_ "I do not _appreciate._ " And here he pauses for a weighty moment. "Gray hair." _He was worried._

My shoulders slump forward. _Now that I think about it, that was a really bad decision. Why were we chasing after an almost confirmed murderess again?_ It's a bit hard to figure this out now that the idea of chasing and catching is out of my head.

Chichi points towards a pile of paper and then towards the filing cabinet in the corner. _I guess I've been demoted to things that will not actively try to kill me._ I contemplate the piles of paperwork on his desk and amend my thought. _Make that, probably won't actively try to kill me._

 _I'm fairly certain there's enough paper on that desk for some of them to gain sentience and band together to defeat someone who ought to be filing them._

Chichi clears his throat, and I am jolted out of my contemplation.

With an inner sigh, I start sorting the paper into stacks and ferrying them towards the filing cabinets. _It could be worse?_

 _Not by much though._

* * *

A young woman pokes her head around the door somewhere at about two in the afternoon. "Fugaku-sama?" She holds up a wrapped bento. "Mikoto-sama wanted me to deliver this. You forgot it at home again." Clearly, Chichi has a forgetful nature for some things because the day we'd gone to pick Itachi up for the first time, he'd also forgotten his bento. That and the person delivering his food seems to imply that this is a habitual occurrence.

Chichi flicks his eyes over towards me. _What-oh._

I rise from my filing job and rise to ferry the food over towards his island where he's still vigorously attacking the paper. "Thank you very much..." I trail off because I do not know her name, and while I could simply say 'Uchiha-san.' it would be a little awkward.

"Naori." She smiles. "And you must be Hana-chan." She bows politely in Chichi's direction. "Have a good day, Fugaku-sama." And with that she's off.

"Did you eat yet?" _He's a strange mix. Care and callousness._ But he has not started eating before asking me.

"Not yet, Taicho." I gesture towards the paper spread out in piles on the floor. "I am making headway."

His gaze flicks down to the mess I've made of his floor and he blinks. I can only imagine what he thinks of my organizational system. "Leave it." He gestures for me to return to his desk, and holds out the smaller bento that he pulls from inside his own. "Here."

I'd brought my own food this morning. I had but...I take his offering anyway. "Thank you, Taicho." We eat in silence.

When we are done, he sets his chopsticks down diagonally inside the bento, takes my box, and rewraps the entire package neatly and efficiently without a spare movement wasted, and hands me a sheet of paper.

Incident Report... _Oh, this morning._ I pull a pen from my belt and begin.

* * *

By the time we leave the station, it is closer to twilight than sundown, and the shadows lengthen with each step we take. As always, the Triplets follow behind. This time though, they're grumbling.

"He hasn't let us in all day." San mumbles from my right. "He's mean."

I rap his nose. "You shouldn't say that." _They especially shouldn't say that right now. Not when Chichi's already stretching the limits of his kindness._

"We have been added to a pack." Ni observes. "And this time we aren't the leaders."

Ichi huffs. "I don't like it." I frown at him, and he amends his statement. "We ought to always be leaders."

"That's just plain not true." I rap him on the nose too. "We follow Kaa-san, and we've been following her all our lives. How is this any different?"

"But that is blood-pack." Ni complains. "This is not-blood-pack."

I throw up my hands. "You three just don't like him because he didn't let you in all day." When I look up, there's a thread of almost amusement in Chichi's dark eyes. _He doesn't understand what they're saying. He thinks we're just having an argument, probably, and he's amused by the fact that I do argue with my dogs._

I've been to the Uchiha District before many times, but this is a first of sorts. "Chichi?" I whisper. "Why did you offer?" We both know exactly what I'm asking.

"Hn." He sets a hand on my shoulder. "You are worthy." Is his only reply. _I am worthy?_

* * *

I am glomped by a small blur of intense speed as soon as I step over the threshold. "NEECHAN!" But this isn't Kiba-chan...this is Sasuke who has just flying hug tackled me as soon as I crossed his doorstep.

"Sasuke-chan?" And it feels like I've stepped into an alternate universe. _Since when did Sasuke-chan love me enough to fly at me as soon as I crossed his doorstep?_ He is close to Kiba-chan, for certain, but my existence has always been a point of contention for the two of them. Or rather, who had the better elder sibling has always been a point of contention between the two of them. _I guess he's celebrating that he has two 'awesome' elder siblings now? Does this negate about 95% of Kiba and Sasuke's arguments?_

He looks up at me with big, big eyes. "I've always wanted to do that." He says this in a very serious and matter of fact tone. "Kiba's always tackling you into chairs."

"Did you want to play let's break chairs?" I ruffle his hair. _Silly little duck haired boy. How could I ever break any chairs in your house?_

Sasuke laughs but tries very hard to hide it behind his hands. "Nuh-uh." He looks up at the man still standing behind me. "Welcome home, Otou-san!"

Chichi nods, and makes his way down the hall, a hand trailing over Sasuke's hair, and a tap on his shoulder with two fingers.

And after he leaves, Sasuke slumps. "'S not fair." He mumbles. "Neechan and Niichan are more happy to see me than Otou-san."

I poke his cheek with a finger. _How didn't he see it? The approval in Chichi's eyes was clear enough._ "He was very glad to see you." But Sasuke is a child still, and I am sure that Itachi smothers him in so much love so easily and clearly that it is harder to see how much his father cared for him. "Sometimes you have to look deeper, Sasuke-chan."

Sasuke brightens in the space of a moment and pulls me towards the living room. "I told Shisui-nii that you liked candy and, and-" He gestures wildly with his hands, much the same way Kiba would. _So Kiba-chan is rubbing off on his friends now._

And then I see the living room table. "Shisui-san, did you just buy the entire candy store?"

Uchiha Shisui is lying on the couch next to a truly gigantic heap of pure sugar. He sends me an upside down smile and a peace sign. "I didn't know your favorite type, Hana-chan!" He flips himself over so that all of his blood is not rushing towards his head. "So I got you everything." And Shisui does truly have an infectious smile. "And call me Shisui." He nods at my shirt. "You should now that I'm your cousin."

Sasuke looks back and forth between the two of us, and pulls a tomato out from underneath the living room table. "Is a present." He states in all seriousness, and from what I can recall about how possessive he is of his tomatoes, it is probably a sacrifice of epic proportions for him.

I take it very carefully, cut it in half with a spare kunai, and return half to him. "We should share, ne?"

The smile that splits his face tells me that I've made the right decision.

* * *

It is to the scene of the three of us sitting around and eating pocky that Itachi returns from the Tower. "Hana?" And then he must have taken in the shirt that I'm wearing because he comes to a full body freeze. _Is this a surprise for him?_ "Who?" He asks, as he absently traces the embroidered Uchiwa.

"It's Fugaku-jisan of course." Shisui lazily waves at Itachi from his place on the couch. "Fugaku-jisan thinks very highly of our sister."

Itachi sits down heavily on the floor. "I have a sister." And then his shoulders are shaking and he's laughing and crying all at once. "Tou-san found me a sister." He wipes his eyes. "He always promised that he would."

Sasuke wriggles into Itachi's lap, and Shisui pulls me to one side of the room for a brief moment. "We were supposed to have a sister." He says very quietly. "That's why Itachi's all strange right now."

"You were supposed to?" _Was there supposed to be a child after Sasuke? Nothing in the series ever mentioned this._

"Sasuke was supposed to be the third child." Shisui whispers back. "Everyone was heartbroken."

So I fill a vital role in this family too. _Chichi and Mikoto-san were always meant to have a daughter._

"Boys?" Mikoto-san smiles brightly in my direction, as though there is too much joy for her to contain in her normally so calm manner. "And Hana-chan! It's time for dinner."

We file towards the kitchen together, all four of us.

* * *

It is late when I step inside the hallway and set my sandals next to the door, but the lights in the kitchen are still on, and Kaa-san's shadow had been in the window, so I head there before I wander off to bed. "Kaa-san?" She's sitting facing the stove, with a cup of coffee beside her. There's something in her hands that I can't see.

"Hana-chan?" She turns towards me with a smile. "How did it go?"

 _Kaa-san knew. Of course, Chichi would have asked beforehand. I wonder what that conversation must have been like._

"It was happy." I walk across the floor so I can sit down in the chair next to her. "Did Chichi talk to you first?"

Kaa-san sighs, and sets both her hands and the object on the table. I still can't see what it is. "Of course, he did. How would he dare to co-opt my child without my permission first?" She chuckles, the sound rueful and a little sad. "I nearly fell out of my seat when he asked." A wry smile pulls at her lips. "It just goes to show that some things in life are meant to startle you." She ruffles my hair. "I'm happy for you."

"But you are sad for yourself." I respond. There is something not entirely happy about Kaa-san tonight, and I am not sure I want to know what it means.

"No." She replies and finally opens her hand. It's a small faded photograph of a teenage boy with pale blond hair. _Tou-san. Of course. On a night like this, Kaa-san would remember him._ "I am sad that he isn't here." Kaa-san had been widowed at twenty three. She's barely twenty-eight now. "And that baka." She smiles at the picture in her hand. "Another decade and it'll look like I'm robbing the cradle." _Kaa-san's older than Tou-san now. He's forever twenty-five._

"Do you-" I want to ask her if she minds, if she knows that I am not replacing her or Tou-san, that I simply can't. _How could anyone think that of either of you? When you were the first to support and cherish me in this life. The first people to love me unabashed, unrestrained, and unafraid._

"Hush." Kaa-san's eyes have turned back to me. "Before Fugaku asked, I didn't even think you felt the absence of a father in your life so clearly." She huffs and blows a strand of hair out of her face. "And I always thought that I was the better parent of the two of us." She sets her hands over mine and squeezes. "I forget that you're really just a pup sometimes, Little Nose, you're always so grown up. You ought to be happy to gain another father. He might be the last one this life offers you."

"Kaa-san..." I feel my eyes fill with tears. "Kaa-san you're only twenty eight." And I suppose that Kaa-san could remarry. I could have a step father, but it wouldn't be the same.

"And I married once for love." Kaa-san pulls me close. "And I'll never settle for anything less." She laughs above me, happy and free. "You'll know it when you see it, Little Nose, the one that you have to tie down and keep for as long as you can because they're just that important, when you find that man, keep him and never let him go." She flips the photograph so that it's no longer upside down, and I see through her wild hair, that Tou-san looks as though he's been dragged into the frame by accident. "I married Kai-baka young. I was sixteen; he was eighteen. We didn't know anything about how to run a family, or what it meant to build a home. I had to drag him to the alter. He was sure I was making some idiot's mistake, choosing him of all people. We ought never have been happy a day in our lives." _But you fit together like interlocking puzzle pieces, fine china and a wild hurricane._ She wipes away a stray tear.

"But I knew what I wanted, and I had it for seven years. That's enough don't you think?" No, _it isn't Kaa-san._ It is her strength that keeps her standing, keeps her moving forward. So many others would have given up, would have lay down and died, but not Kaa-san. Not Kaa-san who is always looking for the silver lining in every cloud. _Seven years of married bliss is not nearly enough of what you deserve. You deserve a lifetime._

 _But death does not ask what we deserve, and Kaa-san had seven years when some have none at all._

"Un." I wrap my arms around her neck. "Kaa-san will always be Kaa-san, and Tou-san will always be Tou-san." She nods and says nothing. Nothing needs to be said.

We stay that way for a long, long time.

* * *

 **A.N.** There is much Uchiha-ing in this chapter, Inabi makes a reappearance as something slightly more than background character number 8, Fugaku being himself (You can almost just see the question marks above his head like, I adopted this child because I like her, now what do I do with her? Can't send her on patrol, she's a bad influence for the rest of them, makes such a mess organizing my papers, what do I do?), Sasuke and Shisui showed up this chapter! (And so did Itachi and Mikoto). That and Tsume. Tsume deserves a big shiny gold medal with number one mom written on it to be perfectly honest. Tsume has survived so many things and turned out to be a good person that it's not even possible not to be in awe.

Thank you to morpheusandmuse, Estarc (Well it is a personal matter. Personal matters do not often go unremarked in shinobi villages though.), Sazaleli, WhiteFang001 (I do try to make sure that characters are humans instead of cardboard cutouts of sternness. I really feel like Sasuke had a perception problem regarding his dad, and this translated to the fandom. Thus, Fugaku, traditional minimalist extraordinaire who manages to actually be a cinnamon roll.), Yuki Suou, LadyScatty (Shisui has appeared! And he is a very bright light.), CasJeanne, LittleMissSugarLess, snidekick (I'm also unexpectedly fond of Nara Suzaku.), AnimeFreak71777, n1ghtdr34m3r (And more Uchiha-ness! More Uchiha-ness!), Guest One (I'm not sure what you mean by the summaries, since I don't think I ever really stopped. If you mean something else, contact me about it :D.), Miekp-chan12, Guest Two (Kakashi was a bit odd. Things will be explained later.), Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf (Well, you're in luck. I update fast. :P and Toku is honestly a ball of goofy bright panda eyed hyuga boy. And yes, Danzo deserves to be tossed down a well.) and Chi-chan for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina


	49. Military Police Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Moonlight casts a pale light over the hallway. The Triplets have wandered down to the kennels to sleep in their own beds today, so I go on alone. When I enter my room, I find a small lump wrapped in blankets on my bed. "Kiba-chan?"

The lump wiggles and Kiba pokes his head out from my blankets. "Neechan?" He sounds...I'm not sure. _Does he think that I'm about to replace him too?_

I plop down next to him. "What's the problem?"

He wriggles into my side and sets his head in my lap. "Not a problem." Oh, there is definitely a problem. He has his lips turned down in a pout again, and while it is adorable, it is also the first symptom of an incoming howling tantrum, and it is late, no one would appreciate being woken up because of a howling Kiba. And Kiba can howl very _loudly._

I poke his cheek. "You don't normally come to visit me so late." My finger trails down the red fang, and he buries his face in my lap.

"Wanted to know Neechan's always _my_ Neechan." So he is afraid of being replaced. When would he learn that I could no more replace him than I could replace the sun and stars? _Silly Kiba-chan. Do you think that I could ever love Sasuke more than you?_

"Of course." I pull some of the blankets off of him so I can be warm too. "I'm always your Neechan."

Kiba huffs angrily. "Stupid Sasuke has better siblings than me, now." He punches a portion of the blankets and practically bares all of his little teeth in a growl. "Stupid Sasuke is _stupid._ He's not better than me. Never ever ever ever. He should just accept it." _So they are still arguing. I should have thought of that earlier. Those two can't stop arguing any more than they could stop the sun._

"Doesn't this make Ita-kun your Niichan too?" I wrap a hand around his wrist so that he stops punching my poor blankets. "So now your siblings are equally good right?" I am not sure that the transitive property works here, but if I am Sasuke's Neechan, and Itachi is his Niichan and Kiba is my otouto...then Itachi should be Kiba's Niichan as well. "And just think, you're two weeks older than Sasuke-chan, so he should also call you Kiba-nii now."

Kiba brightens so fast that I'm not sure he was ever angry to begin with.

He hops out of bed and picks something off of the floor. "Akamaru!" Oh, it's a sleeping puppy on my throw rug. "We're older than Sasuke!" _He didn't think about that before?_ Kiba giggles madly. "He has to call us Kiba-niisama now!" _Oh dear._

 _That doesn't sound like something Sasuke would do, especially new and improved Sasuke after interacting with Kiba for so long. The explosion from this will be tremendous._

Akamaru whimpers wordlessly as though he agrees with my thoughts, and goes back to sleep. Kiba frowns and turns back to me. "Neechan, why isn't Akamaru happy about this?"

I stifle a yawn. "Maybe he's tired and he'll be more excited in the morning?"

Kiba bounces back to my bed. "Can I stay here?" He sets Akamaru back down on the throw rug. "Wants hugs from Neechan."

And he's got such big eyes. _Those puppy eyes are criminal, otouto._ "Yes." I pull the blankets up so he can wriggle underneath. "But no kicking."

He nods very seriously. "Won't kick Neechan!" _I doubt it. You run a marathon every night, Kiba-chan._ Still, he is my brother, and I can endure one night of being kicked every week.

* * *

I go back to work the next morning, only San following me this time. Ni and Ichi had sniffed and turned up their noses, claiming that Chichi wouldn't let them in anyway.

They've run off to somewhere, probably to shadow Kiba, Akamaru, and Sasuke as they prank the neighborhood cats or something. Somehow, Kiba has managed to rope Sasuke into his desire to prank cats. I can only hope that the entire affair doesn't end in tears, especially since Kiba will most likely try out the Kiba-niisama thing.

I'm again set to sorting paper. There are case files everywhere, and I am supposed to sort them first by location, and then by severity and then by time. Somehow, I gather that Chichi is actually obsessively organized. He'd sighed minutely when I'd began organizing the papers in piles around me on the floor, and has been glancing up at my progress every five minutes for the past hour.

After actually spending more time with him, it's clear that he _isn't_ stone like how the rest of the village whispered. The shinobi population seems to think that he didn't care about anything. _He forgets his bento almost every day. He likes flowers. And he's easily distracted by messy things._

"Who taught you to write?"

I look up. Chichi's holding a piece of paper that looks suspiciously like the Incident Report that I'd filled out yesterday. "I taught myself?" I venture. _I know my handwriting isn't good...but still. It's legible, isn't it?_

Chichi gestures for me to come over. He hands me a pen. "Top to bottom. Left to right. Horizontal before vertical." He then slides the page that I'd filled out before along with a new form over to me. "Again."

I pick up the pen, and attempt to begin again. "Uchiha Inabi and Inuzuka Hana sent to patrol the commercial-" It really is not much better the second time around than the first. _Is this a desire for order and neatness, or is it simply that Chichi expects his children to write well?_ The pen suddenly disappears.

Chichi sighs from behind me. "No one has taught you." I glance up at him, there's barely any expression in his features, but his eyes seem...something. I am unable to identify what emotion he's actually feeling, but there is something there, and it is not joy, but neither is it blame. He picks up my right hand and wraps my fingers around the pen, and then uses his own right hand to guide me. "Top to bottom. Left to right. Horizontal to vertical." We finish the sentence together. "area in the second district." It does look much better. We continue on to the next sentence.

"Chichi?" He makes a wordless noise in the back of his throat somewhere between a hn and a hmm. I take it as a gesture that I should continue. "How did you learn?"

"Kaa-san taught me." It is strange to think of Chichi as a small child, sitting with his own mother by one of the traditional tables inside the Uchiha Compound, although, I suppose it isn't the same compound, given that the Uchihas used to live much closer to center city.

"Not your Tou-san?" I had expected something different, that Chichi learned everything from his father, that he is awkward and distant and oh so very short of words because he'd learned it from his father. I didn't really expect that whomever his Kaa-san had been to share much in terms of personality with him.

"He was a busy man." Chichi responds, and we stop writing. He's staring at some distant point now, lost in thought. And in that phrase, I hear years of loneliness echoing in a small room, down empty hallways, and in the study of a man who was never home. "Many things required his attention." _Teaching me was not one of them._ Chichi's grip tightens slightly on my own, and we begin again from the top of the page.

* * *

That afternoon, Shisui pokes his head around the door. "Fugaku-jisan?" He rubs the back of his head with an awkward laugh. "Can I borrow my cousin?"

Chichi raises an eyebrow at him, glances down at me, and the many piles of paper I'd yet to file, and then back at Shisui who is still standing in the doorway. "Hn." And I suppose that means, no, Hana isn't finished with her work yet, so go away, Shisui-kun.

Shisui simply darts forwards and pulls me out the door. "Thanks for giving permission, Fugaku-jisan!"

"What?" He's pulling me along at an accelerated rate, and I almost stumble after him down the hall. "Shisui, where are we going?"

He turns around to smile at me, eyes dancing, and I'm caught by how friendly they look. _The color of raw earth in the springtime. Brown laced with gold._ "We." He announces grandly. "Are going to a training field so I can teach you something!" We're standing on a slightly busy street corner, and he grins and rubs the back of his neck. "And I suppose we could go eat something afterwards?"

"Are you sure that Chichi won't mind?" _He had looked down at my work, and then at Shisui..._

"Ahaha." Shisui pulls me along as we merge with the bustling afternoon crowd around the Hokage Tower. "Why would Fugaku-jisan mind?"

It sounds like he's avoiding the answer to my question though. "Perhaps." I observe. "Because you've just pulled me away from my job?"

"No one expects you to work as much as him. Fugaku-jisan wouldn't mind it really." Shisui flaps his free hand at a stand selling hair ornaments in the market as we pass it by. "Do you want a hairpin or a clip or something?"

 _What?_ "Um..." And I suppose that he takes my lack of answer as a yes, because we've changed direction, heading straight towards the stand now.

He pulls a purple butterfly pin out of the stack and holds it to my head. "Hmm...no." He puts it back. "Purple's not really your color."

"Shisui..." I tug on his sleeve. "Weren't we supposed to be going to a training field?"

He glances at me absently. "We could always do that some other time, Hana-chan." The next pin he picks out has magnolias and green cloth for leaves. "Hmm...not this one either." He sighs. "You looked nice with the chrysanthemums in your hair at New Year's." _He noticed that?_

"But why are we doing this?" Yesterday, he'd bought what looked like an entire store's worth of candy and had been so delighted to learn that I liked lemon hard candies. 'Those are my favorite ones too!' He'd said, and now he's standing around picking out hair accessories. He is trying desperately hard about _something._

"Because I'm welcoming you to our family!" He throws an arm around me, and holds a delicate golden crane clip to my hair. "This one looks pretty." He sighs. "Let's get you this one."

"Shisui..." And for the first time, I realize that I don't actually know anything about his family at all. There'd been no mention of them, only that he's close to Itachi, and in this life, he called Chichi Fugaku-jisan, and Mikoto-san, Baasan, but I didn't know if he had siblings, or parents or anyone or even how he's actually related to Itachi. "What's your family like?"

He blinks. "You've already met my family, Hana." He pays for the clip, and sweeps my bangs back and clips it in. Then he guides me away so that we're walking down along the river together. "Ah, I guess you mean my parents, huh." He walks with his hands behind his head, gazing up at the sky. "They were killed during the third war, so I'm living with Fugaku-jisan and Mikoto-baasan." _Oh._ "Chichi was Mikoto-baasan's aniki." _So he and Itachi are first cousins._

"I'm sorry." It's bad to bring up memories of people that aren't here anymore, especially since I don't have much right to ask about them. "Those must be painful memories for you."

He laughs and loops an arm through mine. "Don't worry about it." And there's no sadness in his eyes at all when he turns to smile at me. "I'm very lucky." He quips. "I've got nine lives, just like a cat does. At times, I feel like I'll never die or get lost. I'll always land on my feet."

The words feel like winter's chill. _If you knew your future, would you think that you're lucky, Shisui?_ "I see." I look down at my feet instead, because if I look up, I'll see the overlay of him falling to his death in the Naka River, eyes weeping tears of blood.

He must have noticed something subdued about me, because he pats my shoulder reassuringly. "Don't look so down, Hana! No need to feel sorry for me."

 _I'm not feeling sorry for you, Shisui._ "You said you wanted to go get food?" I ask him. _He's not dead yet. There's still time for change._

* * *

We end up in Ichiraku Ramen. It is the first time in my life that I'm visiting the establishment. "So, do you even like ramen?" Shisui plops himself down on a stool and stretches his arms out in front of him.

"I've never had ramen before." Not real ramen anyway.

"Really?" He turns around "Teuchi-san, we need at least three different flavors of ramen. I'm thinking...a pork ramen, a salt ramen and a miso ramen."

The man by the counter smiles and nods. "Of course, Shisui-kun."

"You're a regular here then?" I hadn't known that before. Hadn't realized that Shisui might actually be more like Naruto than anyone ever imagined.

"Yep." He leans back on his stool, balancing with chakra so that he could lean to impossible angles. "How have you never had ramen before?"

"One pork ramen."

The bowl is set before us, and Shisui passes me a set of cheap bamboo chopsticks. "Thanks for the food." He's about to dig in, but from behind the curtains of the stand a girl squeaks and backs away. He turns towards her. "Hey, Ayame-chan?"

The girl squeaks again and races of. Teuchi-san laughs. "She's a bit shy right now."

Shisui nods. "I didn't want to think that I embarrassed her last time." He turns back to me. "Well, go on. We need to know if you like ramen or not."

"I thought you were going to-"

He grins at me, goofily in the soft light of the lanterns. "I was thinking we could share. Lighter on the wallet, and you don't have to eat so much of anything you don't like."

 _Thoughtful. Uchiha Shisui isn't just cheerful and friendly. He's careful of other people's feelings._ "Oh, sure." We dig in.

We're halfway through the salt ramen, which I like the most so far, when he looks up. "You never did tell me why you haven't had ramen before."

"I don't really eat out a lot." I shrug. "There's always a house with dinner on the table that I could visit without spending money on food." Shisui blinks and I elaborate. "I could go home, to Sensei's house, to your house, to Toku's house, or to Mu-kun's house." Granted, I don't visit Toku or Mu-kun half as much as I used to, but I could still drop by for dinner without a problem.

"That's nearly a house for every day of the week." He leans forwards to whisper in my ear. "Make two more good friends who don't live in those houses, and then you'll never have to eat take out again." _What? Oh Kami that's just-_

I laugh so hard that I just clutch my sides and gasp while leaning against the counter top. "Shisui!" I can't help it. It's just so far from what I expected him to say. "That's so mercenary of you."

His answering smile is pleasantly warm. "I'm a terrible freeloader." He slides a few bills underneath our ramen bowls. "Especially when it comes to food."

"Cousin Hana?" And it's Cousin Gaku and Byamaru who've stepped into the stand. "Can I walk you home?"

Shisui waves at him. "Hey, Gaku, do you know if Kotsu-chan's in the village?" _Shisui knows Cousin Kotsu well enough to call her Kotsu-chan?_

Cousin Gaku blinks at him. "I'm unaware of the movements of my Cousin Kotsuzui, Shisui-kun." He turns expectantly to me.

"Of course, Cousin Gaku." I smile up at him, and pat Byamaru on the head. "I would be honored if you are willing to escort me home." I rise, and with a nod and thanks to Shisui, we head out into the night, arm in arm.

* * *

We're halfway to the clan grounds before Cousin Gaku breaks the silence between us. "I remembered something today." He states out of the blue, staring straight ahead. "It was not a pleasant something."

 _It is probably something to do with the time period where he went missing during the Kyubi Incident._ "You don't have to tell me about it." My grip tightens on his arm. "If it hurts you to talk about it too much right now, you can tell me later." I've become his confidant of sorts. I get the feeling that he doesn't want to burden his elder sister with his oftentimes confusing, bizarre, and downright frightening revelations and memory gaps.

"I do have to tell you." Cousin Gaku sighs, and sets his other hand over mine, almost as though he is bracing himself for something difficult. "I have to tell you right now. It's been so long as it is."

We walk for another street or more before he opens his mouth again. "I was a part of an organization." He says very carefully. "And I cannot tell you any details."

My blood freezes and we stop walking because I just felt my legs tremble. "Give me a moment, Cousin Gaku." I lean into his arm and try my best not to collapse in the middle of the street. _Danzo. ROOT. All this time I was worrying about Koma-senpai, Ita-kun and myself. I didn't worry enough about the people right next to me._

He sets a hand on my shoulder, and pulls me close. "You know something about it then." Something in my blood tells me to trust him. _He is not here to hurt me. If he were here to hurt me then he has no reason to tell me about any of this._

"Rumors." I respond. "Words are wind." My thoughts are a hurricane, and I feel buffeted by an invisible wind.

He nods. "But actions are eternal." We're inside the clan compound now, and he guides us towards the shrine. Once inside, he shuts the door.

There is only moonlight through the windows on the ceiling. There is the heavy oak door entrance that he's just bolted, and the windows that soar above us. There are no other exits.

Cousin Gaku lights the incense in front of Okami's statue, and then he turns around and shows me his tongue. _Three solid black bars, and two broken ones. ROOT._

He kneels in front of me, and takes my hands. "We share blood."

"We do." I agree.

"Konoha is not safe." His head is bowed before me, his shoulders shaking. _He didn't remember that he was part of ROOT before, or else he would have told me. But now that he remembers-_ I don't know if he means that he's suddenly realized that our home is not as light as it used to be because he's been inducted into a secret organization and then brainwashed, or if it is because he believes ROOT to be an actual threat to Konoha's safety. It could be one or the other. It could be both.

I thread my fingers through his hair. "What did you remember?"

He shakes his head. "Can't." And his eyes are tightly shut as he breathes. "Tried. Can't talk about it." And again, I am cursing Shimura Danzo for breaking another brilliant soul. _He'd been wild and brash and happy before Danzo got his hands on him._

"You said you _were_ a part of the organization." The past tense is a sharp contrast to the seal on his tongue, but most ROOT members didn't live with their families inside their clan compounds. They also didn't have sudden memory lapses and feelings either. "Are you still an active member?"

He shakes his head. "I do not think so." His shoulders shake. "But I do not know that. There are many things that I do not-"

"Remember." I finish. There's no way of knowing if he is active duty or not. The whole thing is odd. _If he is active duty, why let him come back home to us? He went missing during the Kyubi Incident, but Danzo didn't have to return him afterwards, we would have thought that he died. If Danzo wanted to use him out in the field, it would have been smarter to keep him instead of returning him._

 _If Danzo's using him as a source of information though...Cousin Gaku would be really bad for that since he's obviously so abnormal and detached from everything. He speaks to practically no one except me, and I'm not even remotely interesting. What does Shimura Danzo want?_

I have no way of knowing.

"I am sorry." Cousin Gaku whispers, his gaze fixed at a point beyond me. "I am a security risk."

"You are _not a security risk._ " I grab his shoulders and force him to look me in the eye. "You are a person. You are my cousin, Inuzuka Gaku, and you will always be that way."

He lets go of a shaky breath, a rueful, miserable smile tugging at his lips. "You're too kind to broken things, Cousin Hana." _You are not broken._ I want to protest, but he lifts my hand and kisses my fingertips even through his tears. "You're my queen, Hana-hime, and as long as I am myself you'll always have my loyalty." _He doesn't expect to always be himself now that he's remembered._

 _What did Shimura Danzo do to him?_

I cup his face in my hands. "I want only my cousin." And I smile back at him, the both of us equally miserable. "But if it is what keeps you sane, I will be your queen." _And I will curse Danzo every minute of it._

* * *

 **A.N.** So we have Kiba-ness, more Uchiha-ing (Fugaku and Shisui mostly this chapter.) and Cousin Gaku. Honestly, he's just forty different shades of broken that Hana hasn't entirely cottoned onto yet, but she's starting to. Slowly, slowly, she's starting to realize, and when she does the results will not be pretty.

Thanks so much to LadyScatty (Everyone gets a Shisui. There's more Shisui in Bloodless now, and he's getting easier to write.), fernandfeather, OddShadow (No, Kiba was not happy, but then he got _ideas_.), Yuki Suou (Well, a bad thing happened this chapter? Does that count?), n1ghtdr34m3r (The Uchihas are such a fun family to write. And yes, it is the plan that Sasuke grows up and sees more.), May525 (Uchiwa is the specific name for the Uchiha Fan.), Born To Sleep (No, Hana was really not being professional, and yes, there are butterflies that will twist canon a whole bunch because of Fugaku's decision to adopt a daughter.), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), ArturoLJ50 (Fugaku will never stop being fatherly. It's a part of his soul.), scythe195, WhiteFang001 (Thank you so much for your amazing review. At the time it appeared, half of this chapter just got deleted, and it really was what I needed at that moment to retype a whole bunch of stuff.), LittleMissSugarLess (Let the adventures continue!) Guest One (I'm so happy you liked the ending scene! I loved writing it.) and Guest Two (No I'm not really into that.) for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	50. Military Police Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Cousin Gaku seems mildly relieved that I've promised to help him. Although I suppose it isn't really help so much as simply the statement that I believe him. "Can you write anything down?"

He sighs. "That was the next thing I tried when I couldn't talk." He seems calmer now, less likely to collapse into hysterics. "I can't do that either."

I offer him a hand and pull him to his feet. "We ought to report this to Kaa-san." I'm not sure that I know what will happen if I do. _Would Kaa-san be angry? Would Kaa-san go to challenge the Hokage?_ Images of what my hot headed Kaa-san would _do_ if faced with this information crowd my mind, and none of the outcomes are any good. _Kaa-san is mother of the pack. To know that her pack is damaged..._

 _The first thing she would do is run straight to a confrontation with Danzo._

Cousin Gaku shakes his head. "Tsume-baasan would want answers that I cannot give her." He frowns. "I do not know who leads the organization, but they have the orders of-" And here he chokes. _He doesn't know that it's Danzo? Who does he think they have the orders of, and why won't the seal let him talk?_

"You don't need to push yourself further." He leans on my shoulder as we head towards the door. "Cousin Gaku, be as safe as you can." He nods, but doesn't say anything. And his air is returned to him. _Curse Danzo. Curse him. Okami, I've changed my mind about kicking him down a well. I want to have his skin._

But honestly, the ROOT seal is just inefficient. Everyone would know that something is happening when the person just started choking when asked a simple question about orders. The only thing it does is prevent ROOT members from actually naming their leader. Perhaps a normal member would just commit suicide after being found out so that they'd never be traced back to the source.

I suppose Danzo never thought that one of the ANBU under his command would willingly try to tell someone else these things, thus, triggering the highly ineffective seal.

"Would you be willing to be mind walked?" If he couldn't talk about what's going on, then perhaps he'd be able to articulate through his locked memories.

"Yes." And now it is only up to me to determine how and when I could get him to Inoichi-san. _Kiho-baachan has enough on her plate, and giving her this information might bring Danzo down on her head, and Sensei cannot defend himself. It would be best if no attention is drawn to them at the current moment._

 _It is different with Inoichi-san._ Yamanaka Inoichi is the head of his clan. The only problem is how I would ask him to help me. I know him well enough to buy flowers from him and have him joke around and tease me regarding my choices, but ultimately I am only his brother-in-law's ex-student.

Perhaps he wouldn't be willing to stick his neck out on the line for me.

I square my shoulders as I slip into the house alone. _It cannot hurt to ask. But not now, later._ I can afford another month or so, Danzo is not moving against my family, and the vengeance I want for Koma-senpai and Cousin Gaku needs evidence, though I know not how to find it.

I tell myself that this is why I don't head straight for Yamanaka Inoichi, but the truth is that I am afraid.

I am afraid of what could happen to my family. I am afraid of what would happen if I poked the sleeping dragon that is Shimura Danzo.

And I do not want to face it.

* * *

Another two weeks pass before anything of note occurs. In the meantime, Chichi seems to have accepted that while my organizational patterns are not even remotely like his, they are effective and I do manage to sort paper and case files correctly.

I've also read about more petty crime than I ever care to think about. People filed complaints for the most absurd things, like the theft of an old pair of slippers, a neighbor being indecent in their own apartment...Honestly, I had no idea that these things were even worthy of being reported to the police to begin with.

It is the evening of April tenth when Chichi glares at his papers and sighs. _He has so many files to look at and cross examine and I actually have no idea how he does it and still manages the Uchiha Clan affairs and stay sane._

I consider the three empty paper cups beside him, and the many that I've thrown out throughout the course of the day, and think again. _I'm fairly certain that Chichi doesn't sleep. He runs on coffee and fumes._

Chichi sets the current case file aside. "Are you requesting a day off this week?"

I blink. "No?"

He steeples his hands over his current paper, and knocks over one of the empty paper cups. He blinks at it, almost tiredly, and flips it upright once more. Then he sets his hand on the photograph in his desk, and flips it down. I've still yet to actually see what it's a photograph of, but I assume it has to be of his family. "You turn ten in three days."

Oh. He means to ask me if I am going to celebrate my birthday. "It's okay." I sigh and run a hand through my short bangs. "The night of the twelfth, I'll go home early to tell Kiba-chan stories, but there's nothing happening on the thirteenth."

I can almost see the frown in Chichi's eyes even though nothing occurs to the rest of his face except a minute tightening of his lips. "Tsume does not celebrate your birth?"

"The thirteenth of April isn't a good day, Chichi." He must not know when- _Don't think about it. White sheets, red._ I take a deep breath and let it out. "Tou-san died on the twelfth."

"Ah." I look up to find that Chichi's staring off into space again. "I did not realize."

"It isn't..." I want to say that it isn't a problem, that it isn't his fault, but I think he knows that already, and babbling next to him did always seem like speaking to a wall. There is no need to waste words with Uchiha Fugaku. Never use three words when one would suffice. Don't speak if actions can be made.

He rises and gestures for me to follow him. "Come."

I follow him out the door.

* * *

I walk with Chichi until we are nearly at the Uchiha Compound, but he turns left when we should've turned right, and leads me to the edge of the large lake that pools from a bend in the Naka River.

"Watch carefully." He takes a step forward and makes four very familiar hand signs. _He's teaching me the Great Fireball Jutsu?_ The Great Fireball Jutsu is the Uchiha coming of age jutsu, and while other clans used it, it's special to the Uchiha. _He's going out of his way to mark me as his child._

The cloud of fire that he blows out over the lake is modest, and I sense that it isn't the largest size that he could potentially make it. But there's no need to expend so much chakra for a demonstration anyway.

I clumsily mold my hands in the signs. _Monkey Boar Horse Tiger._

The flames that I exhale are measly by comparison if they even deserve to be called flames at all. And I know that Katon isn't my main release or even one that I have talent for, but I am unused to straight up failure. My eyes scrunch shut of their own accord. _What must he think of me? What a disappointment I must be compared to Itachi._ I have to remind myself that I am too old to cry, and that I love Itachi dearly. _It's not Itachi's fault that he's a genius with a talent for Katon Jutsu._

Chichi sets a hand my shoulder. "It is not one that you have talent for." And he is not trying to hurt me, he's really not. He's talking, he's not making me decipher it by myself through the film over my eyes. He doesn't even really sound disappointed. It's just a bald statement of the facts, but the facts still hurt anyway. The truth is a kunai and it slips between my ribs hard as stone, sharp as steel.

I shake my head. _No. I'm sorry, Chichi._

He takes my hand and we walk away from the lake. "You're a Doton user?"

"Doton and Raiton." I whisper. _Two affinities, but neither one is a match for your coming of age jutsu._

We're at the center of the training ground now, and Chichi regards me with eyes that I cannot decipher. He turns to show me his side profile, and makes one hand sign. _He's going to teach me something else instead?_ "Doton." He says clearly and distinctly. "Earth Flow River."

He sets his hands on the ground, and the stretch of earth before him turns to wet and sticky mud.

I force my hands into the correct position. I've never gotten a Doton Jutsu to work on first try before, but I want this one to work. _Tiger._ "Doton: Earth Flow River." The moment my hands touch the earth it starts to move, sliding rapidly towards the other side of the clearing, an actual earth river. I pull the chakra back through my hands, and it settles back to being normal ground again.

 _I did it._ _I actually did it the first time._ Chichi offers me a hand. "Doton is not my talent." _He wants me to know that failures do not define who we are._ And now that I am level headed enough to think about it, Chichi hadn't really mastered what he'd showed me. He'd merely shown me and I had taken it.

I feel myself smile when I take my hand so that he can pull me up, even though I'd been so close to unhappiness not minutes ago. "And Katon is not mine."

We walk together into the twilight.

* * *

That night, I lie on the floor of my bedroom with the Triplets using San as my cushion. "You're worried about something, Hana." Ichi is flopped across my stomach, and Ni is prowling in circles around us. It's Ichi who's speaking to me though, one dark brown eye turned towards me with great concern.

"There is someone who has hurt a member of our pack." I have one hand trailing through his fur, and the other's tucked underneath San's stomach. "But if I try to settle our debts now, more pack mates could be hurt."

San hums underneath his breath, at an octave that normal people couldn't hear. "We have to settle debts." He licks my ear. "But does it have to be now?"

 _Will the situation ever change until I'm more powerful than Danzo? Or at least strong enough to take him down without repercussions for my family?_

"I am afraid that more bad things will happen if I do nothing." I respond. It is difficult to admit that I am afraid to the Triplets, because in their unwavering trust for me, they never really think that I am afraid.

"You're letting it cloud your judgement, Hana." Ni comes to a halt and flops down somewhere close to my feet. "It's not good."

 _No. It really isn't._ I resolve again to myself, to speak to Yamanaka Inoichi.

* * *

That weekend, I visit the Yamanaka Flower Shop as the sun's rising. If I continued to dither about Cousin Gaku's problems just because I am afraid, then I would never work up the courage to deal with it. I stand outside the door with my eyes closed and my hand raised. _What if he turns me in? What if he doesn't want to help me? What if, what if, what if?_

There is no point wondering about what if. There is no point. If I never stepped through that door, I would never know.

"Hana-chan?" It's Inoichi-san. He's looking at me with a puzzled expression, but it turns to a teasing smile. "You never did tell me how the Hatake Boy took the flowers."

"Kakashi thought that the ivy meant wedded bliss and I told him that I didn't realize he was celebrating his marriage to Gai-san quite so early." I could talk about what Kakashi had thought of his flowers. I don't need to talk about Cousin Gaku with this man who is basically a stranger. I don't need to, but I do.

Inoichi-san's face is a cross between shock, horror, and pure wild joy. "You have got to tell me about how he responded to that."

But that is not what I came here for. _I am an Inuzuka, and our bravery is spontaneous._ "Inoichi-san, I'm actually here to ask you something."

He must have noted my serious expression, because he steps aside to let me in, instead of speaking in the street, and makes sure that we're safely ensconced in wicker chairs towards the back of the shop before he opens his mouth again. "What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

My hands twist in my lap, and I can feel them tremble. "It's about my cousin..." Inoichi-san doesn't push me, just nods and allows me to continue on uninterrupted. "Cousin Gaku disappeared for a bit after the Kyubi Incident nearly five years ago. He came back changed..."

"Changed?" Inoichi-san leans forwards. "Changed how?"

"He lost his emotions, lost memories, he didn't know many things that he used to know before." I take a deep breath. "But that's not the problem, Inoichi-san." There's a shift in his facial expression now, his eyebrows have drawn together. I continue on, because if I don't say this now, I will never be able to say it. "Two weeks ago, he told me that he remembered being part of an organization."

"You want me to unlock his memories." Inoichi-san sighs. "I would like to help you, Hana-chan." But his eyes veer towards the stairs that lead up to the second floor of the shop. _His family lives over the flower shop. He's thinking of them._

 _Blood is his first loyalty._ And I can understand that. "But you can't because you have people you must protect." The words taste like ashes in my mouth, but I understand where he's coming from all the same.

 _Ino is only four, nearly five years old. If ROOT comes for her in the darkness, they could kill her quite easily._ And even if that meant that Inoichi-san would tear apart the very fabric of Konoha to get rid of Danzo, his daughter would still be dead. It is too high a personal price to ask of him. _So that's what Danzo's leverage is. He's holding the lives of innocents over the heads of the people who could get rid of him._

"I'm sorry, Hana-chan." He's looking down at his clasped hands now. "I can't trust what I would find." If he finds the truth, then he would feel morally obligated to act. If he didn't touch Cousin Gaku's mind with a ten foot pole, he'd be able to look the other way.

Yamanaka Inoichi has Ino. Nara Shikaku has Shikamaru. Akimichi Chouza has Chouji. _Every clan head has at least one child that they'd die to protect, and Danzo can threaten the children more easily than adult shinobi. Even though children grow, they remain children in the eyes and hearts of their parents, and his leverage is eternal._

"It's alright, Inoichi-san. I understand." And if Danzo held Kiba's life over my head wouldn't I do the same? Isn't that why I feared this conversation? Looking the other way is harmless enough when weighed against my brother's life. Wouldn't I trade stains on my soul and my conscience for Kiba's ability to laugh and smile without a care in the world? I would. "No hard feelings between us, ne?" I do my best to smile at him, and rise from my chair. "I think I need flowers after all."

It would be terrible to leave a flower shop without flowers, as I'd never shown particular interest in talking with Inoichi-san before. It would be unwise to deviate from my habits.

Inoichi-san heaves a sigh, and rises with me. "And it's these days that you sound like Kaito all over again." The words strike a cord in me that I didn't know still moved, but I don't ask. _His imouto was good friends with Tou-san. It is no surprise that Inoichi-san knew him as well._ "I can only hope that you don't have any hard feelings about me." He turns to me, bright smile back in place, but I can see the shadows in his eyes. _He knows that he did not choose the morally right this morning._

 _He knows that if there is a hell, then he'd burn there in perpetuity for this, but I cannot fault him when I would choose the same._ There is the rational justification that tells me I ought to forgive and forget, but I am an Inuzuka, and my heart cries for justice at odds with my mind. I quash my feelings down. _I will have justice for Koma-senpai and Cousin Gaku, and if I must, I will go on alone, even though I have no idea how I will._ "What flowers would you like today, Hana-chan?"

I pause to think about it. I need to visit someone that has nothing to do with any of my unfortunate problems regarding Cousin Gaku, Uchihas or Danzo, preferably someone who would make me so frustrated as to actually forget that I am worried about anything at all. _Kakashi, then. If he is in the village, I will make him breakfast and bring him flowers that will confuse him completely._ "Red camellias and freesia." I laugh a little just thinking about it. _Perishing with grace and immaturity. I wonder what he'll think of that._

* * *

As it turns out, Kakashi is still sleeping when I arrive on his doorstep, red and yellow flowers in tow. Pakkun directs Bull in how to unlock the door from the inside. "No, you turn that bit to the right, and then the entire thing to the left, Bull."

Bull grumbles, but does eventually manage to unlock Kakashi's door and let me in. Pakkun and all the others except for Guruko, who still seems to be hiding from me ever since I made the 'eat you for breakfast' threat to him, are there to greet me when I cross the threshold.

"Boss was out on a late night mission." A small tan pug with the kanji for shinobi on his forehead excuses Kakashi's absence. "He's all worn out, so that's why he's not around to greet you."

 _It sounds like a friend explaining to a mother why their child isn't out of bed yet after a sleepover. There were things to do, and now he's really tired. Sorry about that._

"There's no need to explain his weirdness to me." I giggle despite myself, and wander over to Kakashi's kitchen-living room area only to discover that besides the stove, the refrigerator, the counter top and the two chairs with their sad, sad table, there's a vase on the counter, and an old and saggy couch along one wall.

 _There are signs of habitation not previously encountered before._ His apartment looked more like a person lived in it than a robot who smelled of wet dog and blood, and that makes me happy. _He ought to remember that he is a person worthy of emotion and feeling._

I slide my flowers into the vase, and turn back to the small dog who'd followed me over. "What's your name?"

"Bisuke." He sits down next to my feet. "I'm Bisuke."

I crouch down so that I'm eye level with him. "Nice to meet you, Bisuke. I'm Hana."

Bisuke scratches behind his ear with one foot, and simply by habit, I reach over to scratch behind his other ear. His eyes melt into little half moon slits. "You're good at this."

I smile, his good mood is infectious. "I'm used to it." I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear and continue. "I'm a pack-sister after all." _The Triplets._ I think fondly. _The first friends I ever made._

He blinks slowly. "I approve."

"Approve of what?" I'm not aware that I'm on trial for something, but it seems that I've passed all the same. I would really like to know what I passed though.

There's no time for him to respond, because Pakkun wanders in. "You didn't bring your three clowns with you?"

I feel myself frown before I can stop it. "Ichi, Ni, and San are not clowns." And there it is again, the hostility between my partners and Kakashi's ninken. _I understand why the Triplets are overprotective of me, but I have no idea what they did to offend the ninken..._ "Just because they're younger than you doesn't mean you get to be rude about it."

"Their names are Ichi, Ni, and San." Pakkun responds. If dogs could roll their eyes the same way teenage girls could, Pakkun would have rolled his eyes. "And they're proud of it."

"I named them." I'd never thought that the individual names of the Triplets would be a marker by which other ninken judged them. _I'm sorry, guys, but you never seemed to mind, so I never thought about it._ "And I was only five or so months old at the time." I bop Pakkun on the head. "That's why they're so proud of their names."

And then I turn the stove on to fry eggs and make pancakes.

* * *

 **A.N.** In this chapter we have, Cousin Gaku, Fugaku being...well, himself, a conversation with Inoichi who has his hands tied, and Kakashi's ninken, but no Kakashi. It's a sign of trust really, that he's still asleep despite someone else moving around inside his apartment.

Thank you so much to Svedka0926 (Fugaku acquired a personality early on during the planning stages of Bloodless, and I've just been going with it ever since.), LittleMissSugarLess (Cousin Gaku will play some important roles in the future.), ninetytwochairsonetable, snidekick, n1ghtdr34m3r (And now we know some more about Danzo and his leverage issues.), Sazaleli (I'm not sure what the readers think is a plot twist...since I know so much of what's going to happen. I generally don't write for shock value though.), ArturoLJ50 (And here we see Hana attempting to ask for help. She ends up realizing something different though.), AnimeFreak71777 (Whether or not we like a character has a lot to do with perception. I'm fairly certain when Itachi was first introduced 99% of the fandom hated his guts and wanted him shot.), May525, and libraryrockerr for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	51. Military Police Arc: Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Don't be angry with us." Pakkun sets a paw on my ankle, and I feel his claws, blunt and hard. They aren't going to hurt me in the slightest though, and Pakkun has notoriously soft paws. It tickles slightly to be honest.

I look down at him. "Why would I be angry with you?" Sure calling the Triplets clowns is rude, but I don't think that the only reason that he dislikes my partners is because of their names, and he's plenty commendable in other ways. "And why would you dislike the Haimaru Brothers simply because of their names?"

"It's not because of their names." Bull grouses. "It's because they have no manners."

I flip a pancake. "They're polite enough most of the time." I could see the Triplets stealing food from other dogs, because that's just how they go about living, but it's more for the chase than for the food. They are hardly mean spirited. I don't see how Bull could say that they have no manners.

"No, you don't understand." Guruko appears from underneath a couch cushion. "They seem to believe that you belong to them."

"But I do?" I turn around so I can stare at the four of them-Pakkun, Bull, Bisuke, and Guruko. "I'm their sister, of course I belong to them."

Bull frowns. "But I thought that-"

Guruko slaps a paw over his mouth. "No. Don't talk about _that._ " _What are they talking about? Eh._ I give it a mental shrug. _Kakashi's dogs have to be at least as weird as he is._ Guruko leans in closer and mutters in Bull's ear. "Do you want to scare her away?" _Are they talking about Kakashi? If so, they should probably realize that I won't be scared away from Kakashi by now. It's been about seven years, if I had any sense I'd be long gone._

"Um..." Did they not realize that my hearing is equal to theirs? Did they want me to hear it, or are they just not used to people that could hear them when they whisper? "I could hear that you know." The Triplets never said anything that they didn't want everyone to hear...but then, they also lived with an entire clan and a gigantic pack of dogs who could understand them.

Perhaps for them, being blunt and straightforward and never muttering or whispering among themselves is just normal since everyone would know what they're talking about anyway.

Guruko has the good grace to look guilty, and Bisuke picks up the slack. "Do you like cooking, Hana?"

I turn with a hum back to the stove, and my misshapen pancakes. "Does it look like I really know how to cook?" I hold a pancake up for his inspection.

"They look yummy." Bull offers. "They look very very good."

I pat him on the head with a laugh. "Well, I'm sure your summoner makes them better, since he's actually a decent cook." _And I can only make breakfast foods with some sort of resemblance to actual food._

"Boss doesn't eat breakfast." Pakkun hops onto the counter top, and I can _hear_ his disapproval. To be very honest, I agree with him. _How does a healthy human being not eat breakfast? Oh yes, because Kakashi isn't a healthy human being no matter how hard he pretends to be one._ "It's very bad of him."

I'm about to respond, but a wordless scream rises from the direction of Kakashi's bedroom, and I am in front of his door in an instant.

"Kakashi?" I do not think that there's an attacker in his room with him. I can't smell or hear anyone on the other side of the door not counting him. Besides, this is Hatake Kakashi. _He would not scream if someone entered through his window. He'd butcher them._

The door is locked, and there are no more screams, but the scent of salt and blood is unmistakable, and that worries me more than I expect it to. _What is going on with him?_

I gather chakra in my hand. _Well, no help for it. Melting the hinges it is._

"Don't do that." Another dog is right next to me now. "Boss won't like it."

"I don't care if he dislikes it." I raise my hand, touch the door, and feel the metal hinges bend to my will. "He needs help, and I'm here right now."

* * *

A tap on the door and I'm through to his room. A kunai thuds, hilt deep, into the wall opposite the foot of his bed, but that's not in my direction. Kakashi's awake though, and looks mildly mortified at his actions. "Are you alright?" I ask, a frown forming, at least internally.

 _He doesn't look injured. But I smelled blood. Oh, who am I kidding? This is Kakashi's apartment. It smells like blood a lot of the time._

"I will be." It's a statement made with a surprising amount of sincerity. Sincerity for Kakashi, that is. He's still breathing hard, and there's a dark smudge under his visible eye that speaks of not enough sleep, but whatever haunts him in his sleep seems to have evaporated with the morning sun. _But you are not alright right now. You just don't want me to be concerned about it, because you want me to think that you have it under control._

I decide to believe him, and turn back to sticking his hinges back on.

"You've got an unfortunate destructive habit with regards to my door, Hana-chan." He sings next to my ear, and I shriek.

"Don't do that!" Sure, I might know where he is if I concentrated, but my normal ways of identifying location in relation to where I am are completely moot while here. Kakashi moved too quietly on a normal basis for me to pick up his movements when I'm busy doing something else, and everything in here smelled like blood and wet dog, including him, so my nose wouldn't help me either.

"Hana-chan, you need to learn how to find people before they kill you." And his eye smile is even more irritating when paired with his actual smile.

"I can." I huff. "Find people before they kill me." I reach up to fashion the top lump of metal back into hinges, and realize that I can't reach that portion of his door. _Curse being ten years old. I can't reach that far, because I'm still a short ten year old._ "But everything smells like blood and wet dog, including you. How am I supposed to find you?"

He shrugs. "Become better?" And then he reaches up to stick the top hinge back on. "And please stop destroying my doors."

"I wouldn't destroy them, if you didn't lock them." It's a weak argument, but one that I am fond of making. Sure, asking him to leave his bedroom door unlocked is like asking him to walk around the village without a mask, but still.

"And I should leave them unlocked?" He absently pulls the mask over his face, scratches his chin, and pulls the mask down again so he could frown at me. "Did you melt the hinges off of my front door too?" _He has an expressive face. Or rather, you can read practically every emotion from what shape his mouth is making. Like you can read Chichi's emotions in his eyes._

 _It's probably why he wears that idiot mask. To cover up what he actually feels._

I shrug. "Of course not. Pakkun and the others let me in." I open the newly reinstalled door and head towards his kitchen. "And I made breakfast, which is the only meal that I'm competent at, so." I turn back to look at his slumped form in the doorway. _What were you dreaming of, Kakashi? What makes you this outwardly depressed?_ "You should come along."

* * *

"My friends don't have a tendency to live very long." Kakashi observes halfway through his third pancake. "It seems to be a trend."

And oh, he's flippant about it, but it's not an insignificant issue. It hurts to think of how much he's lost. _Kaa-san, Tou-san, Toku, Mu-kun, Ita-kun, Sensei, and Kiho-baachan, all gone. What would that life be like?_

And I have more than him. "And you're telling me this why?" I tilt my head back to look down my nose at him. "I told you once that I am not to be broken." I'm teetering on the edge of a cliff regarding Danzo, and a single wrong move could send me shattered onto the rocks below, but he doesn't need to know that.

 _He's got enough to worry about as it is._

"If you're smart you'd reconsider your association with me." And it's always like this with Kakashi, a push and a pull. If I truly left him alone, he'd be heartbroken, and he'd come around to bother me. If I showed up at his apartment in the morning...well, we'd get what we have now-him pushing me away again.

"Oh for Kami's sake, Kakashi." I aggressively spread maple syrup over my second pancake. "You aren't like a bad luck charm or something. Mere association with you won't land my head on a spike." I suppose his descent into depression started with his father's death, but it's the other deaths that have carved out his scars and jagged broken edges.

And that's Obito's fault. If he'd just come back to the village like a sane person, Team Minato would still all be alive. _A masked man with a sharingan. One sits in front of me and says I shouldn't be his friend._

 _The other one has the devil's dream. I wonder which one I like more._

Kakashi chuckles. "Somehow, all the stones I visit don't seem to agree with you."

"They left you." And that's true enough, somehow practically every person that Kakashi cared about ended up leaving him. "You didn't leave them." I jab my pancake with a fork, and feel strangely pleased by the sound that the utensil makes against the ceramic. It sounds as frustrated as I feel. "How are any of their deaths your fault?"

And the sigh he heaves is broken. "You know what I dream of?" He tilts my chin up so I look him in the eye. I bat his hand away. _I can look at you. I believe every word I say._ But his hand simply refuses to leave. "I put my hand through her chest." And there's a dark edge in his voice. "Sometimes it feels like it's still there." And my heart breaks, because it's obvious from his previous actions, exactly who I reminded him of. I can't imagine that I'm a good reminder of happy memories.

"Did you want to do that?" My grip tightens around his wrist. He hasn't pulled away yet, and I won't let him do it. Some days, I'd let him, but today I've lost more than he'd know, and I refuse to lose ground. _Not today. I'll tell any obstacle before me to go hang itself today._ "Did you want to kill her? Did it make you happy?" My voice rises in pitch and volume, and I'm standing up now and I have no idea when or how it is. "Did you like doing it?!"

The knife in his other hand clatters to the floor. The look on his face is ugly. "What do you think I am?" The muscles in his wrist flex as his hand curls into a fist.

And suddenly, I'm just oh so tired. "I think you're a human being. Thus you didn't like it, and you are not going to kill me." I let go of his hand. "But I get it, you don't need some random ten year old chunin wandering around in your apartment and melting your hinges." _That's all I really do. That and remind you of people you've lost._

And then I make for the door. _Asking him those questions hurt him a good deal more than I thought._ I ignore the fire in my chest. _It's just heartburn._

"You _like_ spending time with me?" There's a note of disbelief in his voice. "You _want_ to?"

And this time it's my laugh that's jagged around the edges. "Why did you think I come? Do you think I like being frustrated?"

He very carefully pulls me back to the table. "Come back to breakfast, Hana-chan." And that's a concession from him enough. I probably can't ask for any more without being unreasonable.

I sit back down. "I'm sorry." But I have no appetite right now, and the pancake on my plate just seems to soak up far too much maple syrup, and look gag worthy. "I don't want to be a reminder."

He blinks at me. "A reminder of what?"

"You know," I muse. "Every time you aren't lucid, you think I'm someone else." _And that someone else was the girl you killed._

He winces, and stops looking directly at me. "I should be sorry about that." He slides both of our plates aside, to the edge of the table. "I know who you are." He runs a hand through his hair, and stares at some distant point on his wall. "And exactly who you are not." He sounds like he's trying to convince himself of this fact, so I can't really say that I trust his judgement, but he's trying. It's more than I expected. "I didn't mean it when I implied that you should go away."

And there it is again, the push and pull. "I know." I point at the vase of flowers on his counter top. "If you wanted me to leave you alone, you wouldn't have that."

He wanders over to them. "In love, and immaturity." He looks over at me. "I don't think that's what you meant either."

"You keep getting these wrong." And I feel myself smile despite whatever had been going on earlier. "It's perishing with grace and immaturity."

He looks down at the flowers in his hands and sits down on the floor with a bemused expression on his face. "How easily it sums up everything."

And it really does. "I don't think we were perishing with grace earlier." I walk over to take the flowers from his loose grip and return them to the vase. "But certainly, it was with immaturity."

* * *

I don't leave Kakashi's apartment much happier when I entered, but I am calmer. It's a different sort of peace really. There's a simmer of anger in my bones, and just the light touch of something would set it all aflame. How could every person that he ever loved not think about him when making the decision to do whatever the hell they were going to do? And I am irrationally angry when thinking about all the people that he's lost.

 _Hatake Sakumo for choosing suicide, and letting his own child find his body. Obito for not returning to him despite calling him a friend and leaving him with too much guilt. Rin for jumping in front of his Chidori, what did she think he was going to recover from that? Minato and Kushina for-Minato and Kushina are forgiven. They had no choice._

So of course it's because I'm angry that my feet just take me wherever. I don't even know where I am really.

"Get out, you brat!" The angry voice jolts me from my thoughts.

My head snaps up. A little boy. Konoha's overcrowded orphanage. And a woman with her hands on her hips. "What did you just say?" And I've been pushed just too much today. "Did you just tell a child to get out of the orphanage?"

The older woman turns to me, and sniffs. "This doesn't concern you."

I feel my lips pull back in a wordless snarl. "Would you care to explain to Heiress Inuzuka why you want to throw a child out of the orphanage?" She falls silent, and I feel vindictively pleased that my title is good for something at least. _It does nothing for Cousin Gaku, it did even less for Koma-senpai and it has no relevance for Kakashi, but at least for this one child, it's good for something._ "The gaki and I are going to go out and have fun for a bit." I make sure that I'm still smiling. "And then I'm going to return to him, and you are going to take care of him, or so help me Kami, I will make sure you never get a job again."

I school my features into something more friendly before I turn around to actually take a good look at the child who'd nearly been kicked out. Blonde hair. Whisker marks on his cheeks. Wide blue eyes.

Uzumaki Naruto.

But he's just like any other child really. I offer him a hand. "Did you eat breakfast yet?"

He shakes his head and carefully inspects my hand. _Child, it's just a hand._ "Why?"

"Well, I know a place." And Ichiraku really isn't far from here. _He liked ramen right?_ I remember woefully little about the main character's actual likes and dislikes. He'd been hyperactive, unwilling to give up, unusually good at making friends with his enemies...but I don't know this child in front of me, because he's not a character. He's a child."And we can go and get some food, alright?"

He takes my hand. "Where're we going-ttebayo?" And now he's more like how I remembered him, bouncing down the street.

"Ichiraku Ramen." We walk down the street hand in hand. "What's your name?"

"Naruto." He mumbles. "D'you think they'll like me there?" _Oh. Right. People don't generally like him, but this is Ichiraku we're talking about. Teuchi and Ayame were the first people to truly like him._

"Why wouldn't they like you there?" I keep my voice deceptively light.

His grip tightens on my hand. "No one likes me really." _Dei-kun._ Deidara had said the exact same thing to me, months ago in Iwa. _No one likes me really, un._ And Deidara is my cousin, but he'd said that to me after he already liked me. Naruto...I wouldn't say that he likes me much at the moment.

"Well," I say carefully, because the child I've met so far shares very few similarities with the hyperactive twelve year old protagonist of my memories. "I don't think there's anything wrong with you, so I don't see why they won't."

He looks up at me cautiously. "Who're you?"

I poke his cheek. "You're asking me now?"

"Well you said you were 'ress Inu something-ttebayo." He scuffs his shoes against the dusty street. "But Jiji said 'm not 'posed to talk to strangers." _So the Sandaime's been by to visit him then._

 _Why didn't he let anyone adopt Naruto to begin with again?_

I ruffle his hair. "I'm Inuzuka Hana. You should just call me Hana, okay?" He perks up slightly at this, and I smile back at him. "See, now we're not strangers since you know that I'm Hana, and I know that you're Naruto."

This elicits a shy smile from him. "Not strangers anymore." And now he seems much more real if no less energetic. "Fumiko-san was yelling at me 'cause I poured milk on Suki-chan dattebayo." And this sounds like Kiba-chan's story about his toes, a can of paint, and the neighborhood cat. It's also probably why he was nearly kicked out of the orphanage to begin with. _Couldn't the matron take a practical joke? He's only what, five? A little younger than five?_

"You have to tell me all about it." I say, and Naruto actually bounces in place.

It's a small invitation, but he takes it and he's off and running. "So, so, Suki-chan's lot's older." He squints at me. "Kinda like your age, Hana.." He trails off. He's looking for what honorific I'd accept from him, I suppose. He called the matron Fumiko- _san_ even though she'd been horrid, and the child who'd to deal with his practical jokes Suki- _chan._

"Neechan." I respond. "You can call me Hana-neechan." _For the time being, until I figure out if we've smoothed out the whole deal with the orphanage._

"Hana-neechan." He decides. "And she's really mean." He pauses again and considers me. "Not at all like you, actually, and, and I got lots mad-ttebayo, 'n I dumped my milk on her today." And here he droops. "And that's when Fumiko-san got mad."

I take him to breakfast at Ichiraku's listening to his incessant chatter all the while. He seems happy enough, and the matron, for all that she'd been angry at him this morning, didn't seem from his accounts to be making his life miserable on a daily basis. She just didn't seem to notice him too much. He tells me it's because there's lots of children where he lives so 's crowded lots. "'S good dattebayo." He says around a mouthful of ramen.

I bop him on the head. "Don't talk with your mouth full, Naruto-kun." I would call him Naruto-chan, like I referred to Kiba and Sasuke, but it might be a bit much. I'd only met him this morning.

He swallows the mouthful and continues. "Should probably go back soon." He frowns. "Other people might take my Gama-chan." _Would they not give it back?_ I have no idea what 'Gama-chan' is, but it's clearly important to him.

"We can't have that." I make sure that he's done eating before we stand up to go. "You know, you're about the same age as my otouto, Kiba." I muse, as we walk.

"Kiba?" He frowns for a moment. "Dog boy?" He races in front of me so I have to stop for him. "Kiba has a NEECHAN?!" He shrieks, pointing at me with disbelief.

I point at the red fangs on my cheeks. "Kiba-chan has these too, you know."

He deflates. "Oh." And then he's slouching away again down the street. "Didn't see that-ttebayo."

I laugh, ruffle his hair, and we keep walking. _Silly child._

While he rejoins the group of children who seem to treat him rather lukewarmly, I turn my attention back to the matron. "I never want to see or hear about something like that, ever again."

She doesn't look happy with me. "It was a one time incident. I don't frequently tell the children here that I want them to leave." _That still says that you are a terrible human being. What mother tells her children to leave?_

Then I remember that the matron of an orphanage is laughably far from replacing a mother. But he seems okay, here among these children. He doesn't seem like he's drowning or all that disheartened in the slightest.

"I am only tell you, that if I hear even the slightest inkling of something remotely like what I just witnessed this morning, for any of these children." Orphans of war with no clan to take them in. _I would never have been like them, not even if Kaa-san and Tou-san had both died during the war._ "Then the pack will come hunting, and there will be no place on this earth that you can hide from us."

The matron pales, and I feel a vindictive amount of happiness. _I accomplished something good today. I made sure that no children are going to get kicked out of this orphanage._

Naruto's situation isn't _good_ by any means, but it's not going to hell in a hand basket like so many other lives I know of right now. _If I have the time, I'll do something about this, but Naruto persevered in the end._

 _But my greatest priority is to fix the Danzo problem. Only then will Konoha be safe from internal threats._

* * *

 **A.N.** And here we get copious amounts of Kakashi and his ninken. He's getting better, just very very slowly. He's made some concessions, extended some olive branches, and he might even turn out a little bit more sane by the time the canon timeline rolls around. And we meet Naruto. After 50 official chapters of Bloodless, Naruto actually shows up. And yeah, he's not entirely hyperactive or loud, or screeching about being Hokage, but he's also four and a half, a little wary and a little distrusting of strangers, but in the end he's still Naruto.

Thanks to AnimeLover71777, worldtravellingfly (Welcome to Bloodless! And yes, Shisui is cheerful and good natured, but he's also survived so much that he's melancholic.), Ainilly, kira shadow wolf, WhiteFang001 (Kakashi actually appears this chapter! And the Uchiha boys were going to make it in, but it got too long, so tomorrow.), EverBear01 (Aww, don't worry about not reviewing all the time. Does this chapter count as Kakashi Hana love?), LadyScatty (I agree that Fugaku is awesome. I like him.), Wingalzk (Alpha has a more masculine connotation to it, which doesn't translate entirely well with the Inuzuka Pack dynamic of being matriarchal, which is why they use the terms queen, and mother of the pack instead.), RunawayWind (Welcome to Bloodless! I'm glad you like it.), morpheusandmuse (Fugaku is indeed quite awesome.), lalalala (Yeah, Inoichi had a ward stolen from him by Danzo, Fu, and he knows exactly how Danzo will break his family if he intervenes. That's why he's so hesitant to do anything.), bookdragonslayer, Sam, LittleMissSugarLess, Yuki Suou (I'm glad you found Kakashi's dogs amusing. :P), Zeru'Xil, and Kenshin135 for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	52. Military Police Arc: Seven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Leaving Naruto brought back yet more thoughts about Kakashi. In another life, he'd been Kakashi's student. In this one, he's still the only child of Kakashi's sensei. And he's only in an orphanage because of... _Uchiha Obito._

And my anger roars to life again. _There was no reason for Naruto to be orphaned. He ought to have grown up with friends, with family, with a Kaa-san who is scary and adores him, and a Tou-san who is a hero and his closest friend. He ought to be adored by his parents._

 _He ought to be loved by the village._

I had not considered what was really going on while living through the Kyubi Incident before. I'd been too caught up with staying alive, with worrying for Kiba's safety, I had not internalized that it was simultaneously the night Naruto was born and then orphaned. _What sort of person could threaten their own sensei's child? Could fight their sensei with the intent to kill?_ Namikaze Minato had died by the claws of the Kyubi and the death reaper seal, but Obito had unleashed the Kyubi for the express purpose of killing the entire village, his Sensei and Sensei's wife included.

And I've just met their child, orphaned for no reason except one man's inability to let go of a dead girl. _Nohara Rin._

To be honest, I'm overly frustrated with Uchiha Obito right now. The pain in so many people's lives is a direct effect of his actions. It is not Nohara Rin that I blame for Kakashi's lack of mental balance or Naruto's lack of parents. It's Uchiha Obito. Rin had died, but she had not asked for any of his currently insane actions. That and she's dead.

It's a little hard to be angry with the dead, especially the dead that no one ever spoke a bad word of and held in such high esteem. It's much easier to be angry with the masked man who'd hurt Sensei and Toku and Kakashi and Naruto. I want to hurt him.

And there is only one place that I'd ever find Uchiha Obito in Konoha.

* * *

It's been established by his actions in attacking Itachi that he listened to whatever I bothered to say to him at the memorial stone. It's been years since I've visited, but I still know the way, and I still bring strawberry hard candies, simply for tradition's sake. _It's no good to deviate from the norm after all, even though it's been years since any of this happened._

 _I should still pretend to believe that he's a hero even though I want to claw his face off._

It's pleasant enough to smack him in the face, because if he has any emotion left in that dead heart of his, guilt would be one, and I want to make his life hell on earth. _How much can I guilt you? How much can I tear you down to my level and rip you apart?_

Someone else has to feel the frustration in my soul, the tears that sting my eyes, the pain in my chest that I know is not heartburn.

"Uchiha Obito-san." I say, and set the strawberry candies down in a floral pattern like I had many times, so many years ago. "I met a little boy who was about to get kicked out of an orphanage today." I sit down next to the stone, and tilt my head back to look at the blue sky. "He had blue eyes and sun blond hair. He's an orphan because of the Kyubi Incident." _And you killed his_ _parents_. "I made sure that he didn't get kicked out...but still."

I sigh. "Can I tell you a secret, Obito-san?" I stare at his name on the stone, and will him to feel every ounce of pain he's extracted from others. "My team was attacked by a masked man with a sharingan." I scowl at his name. _And you hurt the people that I love._ "He hurt Sensei and Toku." I make a fist and show it to him. "When I meet him again, I'm going to rip his entrails out his throat for taking from me." _For breaking Kakashi's mind. For hurting my people. For orphaning so many children who didn't deserve your shit._

A cool spring breeze ruffles the new grass sprouting in the clearing. This is not catharsis, it isn't even acceptance, I am just angry, and I want him to hurt. I don't even know if he's here, but talking about this makes me content. "Kakashi still mourns you, you know. Everyone that he loves is gone. He thinks the world of you. You're his best friend." Maybe Obito doesn't care about this, but really, it can't hurt that much. "It's a miracle that he's alive." I set my head against the cool stone, and feel the tears sting my eyes. "Please, if you're out there somewhere, protect him."

And I break, because I know exactly what it is that Kakashi dreams of. _He said that he still feels like his hand is through her chest. He still thinks the world of you. He's still grieving, always grieving._ I could not rely on anyone to protect Hatake Kakashi. The thought that Konoha's most famous prodigy needs protection is almost laughable when thought aloud. _He doesn't need anyone to protect him. He's seen it all. What he needs is help._ And I am ill equipped to help him. We're not exactly great at understanding each other. I remind him of people that he's lost. And he frustrates me enough that I ignore what he really needs.

 _I am not enough. Not for Cousin Gaku, not for Koma-senpai, not for Kakashi._

 _Why can't I be enough?_

But my pity party's gone on long enough. I rise to go, and one last hard candy clatters to the ground from my lap. _Lemon. Uchiha Obito doesn't like lemons. Kakashi said so._

I set the lemon candy among the strawberry ones. One small act of irritation. One small act of rebellion against the conception that he's a hero. One small act. _It's more like the middle finger really._

 _I'm flipping him off._

* * *

I go back to the Archives to visit Suzaku-san. If I resolve to solve my problems, then I would have to know about Shimura Danzo. It's not enough to know that he's taking children, that he forced Koma-senpai to blind himself, that he's taken my cousin and brainwashed him. The Hokage wouldn't believe me if I simply came up to him and told him so.

To dispose of Danzo, I have to find concrete proof of his wrongdoing, and that is only possible if I know him. If I know how he thinks, how he'd act, if I could predict his every action, only then can I defeat him. And for that I need information. Danzo's entrenched in the infrastructure of Konoha. He has the ear of the Hokage. And that is ultimately what makes him dangerous: his bond with the Sandaime. _The Hokage cannot see what is broken, because once upon a time they were friends who shared the same goals. To change his mind, I have to find undeniable proof of Danzo's wrongdoings. I have to find evidence._

The best place for information in Konoha is the Archives. "Suzaku-san?" I step into the musty chamber, and marvel over the sheer number of scrolls that are kept here. "Can I ask you a question?"

Suzaku-san blows a cloud of smoke towards me. "Isn't that what I'm here for? To answer your questions?" He hadn't been asleep this time, but considering how much ash is in the ashtray, I feel a twinge of concern. _That really is not healthy for you, Suzaku-san._ Even so, it is not my place to advise him on his life choices.

I giggle. "Surely you do other things too." I pull over a stool so I can prop my elbows up on his desk. "You have a life beyond answering my questions and smoking cigars I'm sure."

He stubs the cigar out on the ashtray and smiles, slowly, lazily, and so much like Sensei used to that it almost hurts to look at. "Yeah. You could say that I guess." He flips himself upright. "You here to look for something, gaki?"

"Elder Shimura?" I don't know how to explain what I want though. _I want information that would take him down. Certainly that would go over well._

"You know, if you want Elder Shimura, the archives isn't the best place to find him, yeah?" Suzaku-san drawls rather calmly, but there's amusement dancing in his dark eyes. _Oh, you rascal. You know that's not what I meant._

"I want _information_ about Elder Shimura." I frown, because at least then I can prove that I'm serious about the whole thing. Not that Suzaku-san's really known me not serious before.

He leans back in his chair, his left ankle neatly crossed over his right, and exhales another cloud of smoke. "Why would you want something like _that?_ "

"I'm here to look up information about Elder Shimura because he's my hero, Suzaku-san. _Obviously._ " His lack of cooperation makes me snarky. The implications of his questions make me somewhat nervous. _What does he think I want with that?_ He has Sensei's recommendation, so nothing dangerous could be assumed about him, but still. _How far does his loyalty to Sensei go?_

The legs of his wooden chair comes down on the stone floor with a harsh click. "You know," Suzaku-san begins, his hands folded over his chest, and his cigar burning in the ashtray. "You sound more like my cousin by the day." _Sensei's concerned about Danzo? Why?_ "And I don't want you doing something as dangerous as what he's doing." Suzaku-san stands up, and sets a hand on my shoulder. "Whatever grudges or fears you have about Elder Shimura, you let my capable cousin take care of it, yeah?"

"I can't let Sensei do it." I squeeze my eyes shut, because even thinking about spilling Sensei's secrets is just wrong on so many personal levels. _I don't think that Suzaku-san knows that there's something wrong with Sensei's health right now. I can't tell him if he doesn't know._ I take a deep breath. "I'm going to look for files, Suzaku-san. If you'd like to help me, you could. If not, I'll just look at the files I have the clearance for."

Suzaku-san groans. "The best way to learn about people is to get to know them." _That's true. And you're warning me about digging around in the Archives for information too. Is there someone watching?_ "If you want to know Elder Shimura, go talk to him." _Oh. Well that's a new idea._

I've been so concerned about bringing Danzo down that I've let it color my thinking. Sure, I could look up his mission record; I could read the list of his accomplishments, but that tells me nothing about him as a person. It would tell me how he thinks, how he acts, and his personal habits. _He's no careless man, but all men have weaknesses. I won't be able to piece together his weakness from anything I could find in the Archives. They don't leave that sort of thing lying around in the chunin clearance level._ "How would I be able to talk to Elder Shimura though?"

Suzaku-san shrugs. "You're a clan heiress aren't you? And plenty smart too, it shouldn't be too hard for you to come up with a plan."

I tilt my head back to stare at the shelves stretching from ceiling to floor, and back again. "Elder Shimura..." I muse. "Cares about protecting Konoha from outside interests." At least, that's what I remember of how he justified his actions.

"How funny." Suzaku-san drawls while staring at the opposite patch of wall. "You seem to share some similar goals with your _hero._ "

 _Oh._ Oh. Those nobles on the civilian council would count as outside influence in Konoha. They're serving larger noble clan interests in _Kakunodate._ _That is not Konoha._ _I can work with this. I really can._ "Thank you so much for your help, Suzaku-san!" In a moment of pure joy, I throw my arms around him and kiss him on the cheek. "You're wonderful."

He laughs, a little awkwardly. "Glad to be of some help, gaki." And then I clatter away.

* * *

I am suddenly greeted by Sasuke and Kiba as soon as I exit the Archives. "I told you Neechan was in there!" Kiba sticks his tongue out at Sasuke. "See _Otouto_? I know what I'm doing!"

Kiba tracks better than I do at his age. I suspect it has something to do with how my rebirth affected things. _Even though I am an Inuzuka, our talents run on instinct. I have different instincts when something is supposed to be occurring. It's not my first choice to just use my nose._ Kiba, for all that he is unfocused, has probably more potential to be a tracking genius than I will ever be. _If he has more discipline, he could do great things._

I ruffle Kiba's hair. "So, what were you looking for me for?"

He beams, and he and Sasuke both take one of my hands, and pulls me down the street.

"We're going to go see a movie!" Sasuke bounces forwards. "With you and _Kiba-nii,"_ Here he shoots Kiba a rather poisonous glare and refuses to add -sama. "And Niisan and Shisui-nii."

"A movie?" Shinobi didn't really go to watch movies as a general rule. There's too much potential for violence, or flash effects or just something that triggers an emotional breakdown or violent responses. We couldn't watch action-blood and gore problems-horror-same problems as action, that and civilian horror just isn't horrifying-or fantasy-because chakra is legitimately a plot device in fantasy, and civilians have no idea how chakra actually works.

That leaves...comedy...romance...and porn. _Oh, that's why Kakashi doesn't read literature. It's absolutely stupid to do that if literature gives you flashbacks._ And Kakashi has a lot of potential triggers, but he probably doesn't have any to do with porn. As it stands, I'm a little concerned about what Kiba wants to watch in a movie theater.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Kiba points towards a new building on the block. "There's a movie place that opened, and a new movie." He turns to me, with his big, big eyes. "Itachi-nii and Shisui-nii are in there saving seats." Well, if Ita-kun and Shisui approve, it can hardly be something that cringe worthy.

"Well." I smile down at the two of them. "Lead the way to the movie."

* * *

Shisui wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me towards the center of the movie theater towards an empty row of seats as soon as I step in. "Ack!" His gesture is surprising, and not entirely planned.

"Come on, Hana-chan!" He laughs next to my ear. "Itachi's waiting."

"Stop hugging Neechan." Sasuke grouses, and Kiba agrees wordlessly by hugging my other side even more. "You're not supposed to hug Neechan."

Shisui blinks. "Why can't I?"

 _Are we really having a debate regarding hugging rights? What is my life?_ "Alright you three." I make sure to disentangle myself from Shisui lightly. "No one is hugging me now, so everyone is equal right?" We're making our way down the aisle of the movie theater, and the other patrons are whispering among themselves. I get the feeling that ninja aren't often seen in movie theaters so they're making a big deal out of it even though we're just rather...normal members of Konoha's forces.

I'm suddenly glomped by three pairs of arms. "NO!" The three of them chorus while clinging on to me. "That's not fair at all!"

I wriggle an arm out of their stranglehold and reach towards Itachi. "Ita-kun!" I mock gasp. "Help! I'm being attacked."

Itachi shakes his head at the four of us. "Remove yourselves from Hana." He pats the seat beside him. "Hana's sitting next to me, since I thought we could watch a movie together and the rest of you are tagalongs"

We sit ourselves down in a rather ungainly row, and wait for the curtains to go up, and the movie to begin.

* * *

"Wow." Kiba murmurs with stars in his eyes as we exit the movie theater. "I want to rescue a princess!" As it turns out, this was the premiere of the first Princess Gale movie.

It's not...bad. It's just that, well, it's cheesy. And it has no idea how chakra works, pretty much like every other civilian drama. But it isn't bad, not for a civilian drama. Shinobi generally preferred...different forms of entertainment. The Kabuki theater district is still popular. The training grounds are used and rearranged fairly often. Older shinobi frequented bars, developed weird hobbies...and we live.

"I'm not sure princesses are so easy to find, Kiba-chan." _He'll forget all about saving princesses by tomorrow._

He pouts. "I will so save a princess!"

I smile. "I'm sure you will someday." Hinata counts as a princess, and I'm sure that someday he'd have to save her on a mission. "Just make sure if the princess saves you, that you thank her." _The hero doesn't always save the princess. Sometimes the princess saves the hero. Remember that, Otouto._

He considers it. "Then thank you, Neechan."

I blink at him. "What did I do?"

He takes my hand and we walk down the street after Sasuke, Itachi and Shisui. "You're a princess too." And he turns to me with a wide beaming smile. "And you've saved me, lots and lots."

I laugh. "I'm a clan heiress, but I'm not a princess." Our clan isn't a noble one, after all, despite the fact that we call our pack mother a queen in her own right.

"They call Neechan, Hana-hime." Kiba bounces his way down the street on our way back home. "That means that Neechan's a princess."

* * *

The next day I go back to work. As I walk through the front lobby towards Chichi's office, Kagen-san stops me with a rather alarmed look. "Hana-chan, don't go in there right now."

I turn towards him. "Why? Is there something going on?"

He leans towards me and cups his hands around his mouth to whisper in my ear. "Fugaku-sama has been here all night signing papers. I don't think your chances of survival are very high if anyone goes in there without coffee." Kagen-san pats me on the shoulder. "That and it's just a bad day today here down at the station all around."

"Well, I'll just bring some." Coffee is not the most healthy of substances, and in the time I've spent with Chichi during all of our-battles against the greatest enemy, I mean-paper work filing sessions, I've noticed that he has a tendency to drink far too much of it. I'm loathed to actually bring him more if he's been up all night, but still, if that's what he wants right now, it's best to make sure that no one dies.

"That's a problem though, Hana-chan." Kagen-san sighs. "There's no coffee anywhere in the station. We ran out."

I turn around and head towards the door. "There's a coffee shop down the street. I'll go get some."

* * *

I don't know how Chichi actually likes his coffee, but considering his personality, I assume he doesn't like sugar. _I doubt he'd like anything particularly sweet. He's never eaten anything even remotely resembling dessert in front of me._

I suppose he wants his coffee black then. _The exact opposite of his soul._ The thought makes me giggle as I stand outside his door.

"You're late." And it's true that Chichi sounds cross, but it's not an object that's insurmountable.

"I brought you coffee." I push open the door and offer him the cup. "I heard we ran out this-" I take a moment to actually look at Chichi after I step through the door, and my words die on my lips.

 _He looks terrible._ It isn't so much that he looks tired, or that he looks cross and angry, one or the other is if not perfectly normal, then at least in the realm of possibility. Right now though, it just looks like he's emotionally wrecked.

There's a sadness in the air that I have never felt in his vicinity before. "Is everything alright?"

Chichi grimaces. "I thought the work would help." He turns his face away to contemplate the morning sun falling onto his papers. _Is the sky falling? Why is he so different this morning?_ "It didn't." He whispers and holds something out to me.

I step forward and take it. It's the small photograph on his desk that I've never been able to see clearly out of its frame at last. Wild hair. Matching wild smiles.

These proud red fangs.

Three teenagers in a training field, their arms over each other's shoulders. I flip it over. There are three names across the bottom, written in Chichi's flowing calligraphy. _Inuzuka Kouga. Inuzuka Kosshi. Uchiha Fugaku._

 _Chichi knew Kosshi-baasan and Kouga-jisan?_ I look back up at Chichi, at the haunted, hunted look in his eyes. There is a grief that runs years deep, and for a long long moment I have no idea what to say. I have no idea what he wants me to say, because clearly he expects me to say something. "Why today?" I ask at last. Why the seventh of May, of all days? Why not some other day? It is not the anniversaries of their deaths, and I don't know of any important dates in the month of May. I never knew that Chichi had been friends with such close relatives of mine.

But then, it is like him not to mention it, especially as by the time I showed up in his life, both of them were long dead. _Kaa-san had said...that Kosshi-baasan and Chichi were on the same genin team._

 _I didn't know that they were close._

Chichi gestures listlessly to the chair in front of me. "I should tell you a story." And it is just another revelation. That Chichi would volunteer to tell me, or anyone else really, a story about something that's clearly long past. _Kouga-jisan died during the Third War. Kosshi-baasan died during the Kyubi Incident._ He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, then he begins. "It's their twentieth wedding anniversary today."

* * *

 **A.N.** And in this chapter, we have...Uchihas everywhere and a conversation with Nara Suzaku. That and Fugaku finally informing Hana about his prior interactions with Inuzukas.

This week has been really rough in terms of school work, which is bleh. But hey, it's the weekend now, so more writing will get done!

Thank you to worldtravellingfly (Yes, Kakashi's ninken are adorable.), EverBear01 (I'm glad that it does.), Kenshin135, Sazaleli, Yuki Suou (All will be explained. Just not this chapter.), Kitca (Yeah, Hana's decided she needs to do this by herself.), 33 (We will indeed get a follow up on civilian politics.), LittleMissSugarLess, lalalala (Oh yes. There are still things about Kakashi that Hana doesn't understand.), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), n1ghtdr34m3r (Kiba and Sasuke...have already been introduced to Naruto. There are to be scenes about their reintroduction.), Sis (So glad you're reviewing again!), Telepath98 (Welcome to Bloodless! And don't worry about it, Bloodless has only been around since August. Not very long.), libraryrockerr (Yes. The ninken are scheming, but they're not very good at hiding it.), Love Stories00 (Welcome to Bloodless, I'm so glad you like it.), and NightsBlackRose13 for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed.

You guys are the best.

~Tavina.


	53. Military Police Arc: Eight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"You were there?" I ask, as I sit. "There for the wedding, I mean." It is strange to think that Kosshi-baasan and Kouga-jisan were once young, and that they held a wedding on the seventh of May, and that they had invited Chichi to the celebration. _The Inuzuka favor spring weddings, but I never did learn the date of theirs._

"I was invited." Chichi folds his hands together and sets them on the table. "It was a happier time." And there's a world of feeling that I do not know the extent of in those two sentences.

We lapse into a silence.

Chichi takes the cup of coffee that I'd set on his desk and tosses it back in two gulps. There's a tense moment when he glares at the cup as though it had done something to mortally offend him. He pulls open a desk drawer and hands me something else. "Jasmine and Violet."

And it's the first time I've seen Kosshi-baasan laughing. She's in a white kimono with black cranes and spinning her around the floor is...Chichi, also smiling. There are violets and jasmines in her hair. "Oh." And while jasmines could mean friendliness they could also mean grace. _Grace and Honesty. This is an impromptu wedding photograph._ The man with wild hair and an equally large smile, half cut out of the picture frame can only be Kouga-jisan. _I never knew him._

My thoughts return to Chichi's reaction to my bouquet. _It is merely disconcerting. It was a happier time._ I did not know how many memories he had made with those flowers.

I look back at him. "I'm sor-" His eyes are red. _Mangekyo. Chichi has the Mangekyo?_

He closes his eyes. "Your jisan was my closest friend." Kouga-jisan had died during the beginning of the Third War. And with this confession, it can only be assumed that Chichi had seen him die.

"I-" What do I say? What can I say? This grief is not something that I can erase. It runs buried deep, and it is only now that I realize that Chichi's heart has been scarred before.

"You did not know him." Chichi replaces both of the photographs in the frame, and rises stiffly to look out of his window. _He's been sitting all night._ "It is understandable that you do not know what to say." Halfway to the window, he stumbles and I reach out to steady him, uncaring at last that it would not sooth his pride. For him to need help is one thing, for him to fall is another. _Only one of those two outcomes would truly dent his pride._

My chair clatters to the floor behind me. "I know that you loved them both." Anyone who would think different is a fool. He does not have to struggle to tell me what had happened, does not need to speak of details. It is not in his nature to tell stories about happier days. It's not really in him to tell stories at all. He's kept two photographs with him through these long years when two thirds of the people in them are dead. And it is not the marriage that he's grieving today, on the seventh of May twenty years after the fact. He is grieving because they are dead. "It's enough."

And perhaps that's what he needs to hear-someone telling him that it's enough.

He nods. "Come."

* * *

We walk down the street rather slowly. No one in the station had made even a whisper of protest when Chichi had simply opened his door and walked out without a word of explanation. It is not even within the realm of his habitual actions. _They love and respect him dearly as well._ Kagen-san looked over his book of sudoku puzzles at me- _Is Fugaku-sama going to be alright?-_ as Chichi and I walk out of the lobby together, I tilt my head to the side- _He will be later-_ and he nods- _I leave him to you_.

It is neither for fear nor pity that no one even murmurs at Chichi going home though it is only ten in the morning. The Uchiha are a tight knit clan, and it shows the most in the here and now, in the little things that they do for each other without asking or question, in their respectful silence as they go about their daily business, in the way they pretend not to have noticed Chichi's grief. He wouldn't want them to express concern, so they offer none.

But still it is there, in the careful way they move about.

"You worry." Chichi comments as we pass the bend in the Naka River. His sorrow is firmly hidden behind a placid mask of indifferent scowling as soon as we leave the station. His pride is intact then.

There is nothing to be read in his features, it's too crowded around here for that.

"I care." I correct. "And that is a little different from worry."

"Most children your age do not." He remarks. He walks with perfect posture, and he does not look at me when he's talking, but surprisingly enough, it's warm. Chichi is nothing like Tou-san. Tou-san loved to call me Blossom, and he sang while washing the dishes, and when we walked down the street, it was always at least hand in hand. Tou-san was unassuming and polite and he'd always been porcelain to Kaa-san's wild storm.

The man beside me is steel and habit, tradition and heart. He is a blank disapproving expression with amusement and concern in his eyes. He is a steady hand guiding my pen down the page, and the simple admission that Doton is not his talent.

And in another life, I'd been older, but in this life I am ten. Even so, I refuse to simply stop acting the way I've always been. Perhaps a normal ten year old wouldn't notice, and if they did, would not know what to say, but I am not that way. I've never been that way. "I've always been an old soul, Chichi." I take his hand. "You should have known that already."

He inclines his head in my direction, and acknowledges my small hand in his, but says nothing.

We walk in silence for the rest of the way.

* * *

"Anata?" Mikoto-san looks up from her reading as we enter the house, concern in her eyes. "You didn't come home for dinner yesterday." But she does not say much more. She does not ask why he is now suddenly home in the morning. Sometimes it feels as though Mikoto-san and Chichi are actually two sides of the same coin, which means that they know everything there is to know about each other and don't actually need to exchange words between themselves at all.

Mikoto-san simply makes an effort to speak when addressing Chichi as a form of politeness for everyone else.

Chichi says nothing, but they share a glance as he makes his way down the hallway. Mikoto-san seems to find something in the glance that soothes her concern because she merely sets her reading down, and does not rise to walk with him. He disappears into the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. The door slides shut behind him. I stand in the doorway, uncertain if I am meant to continue following him. He'd wanted me to come with him to his house, but I doubt he wants me to wander around inside his room.

"Hana-chan?" Mikoto-san rises and walks over to me. "There's something we were waiting to show you during Itachi-kun's birthday party but..." Her eyes flick towards the direction that Chichi had retreated in. "I think it would be better if it is today."

"But Chichi?" If they'd planned to show me whatever it is during Itachi's birthday a month from now, wouldn't he disapprove? He's already unhappy right now. I have no desire to make him worse.

Mikoto-san sighs. "It was a happy time of year." And for the first time, I notice that her reading is not a book. _A photo album._ It is open to a brightly colored page, girls in kimonos for the New Year. _Kosshi-baasan must have been friends with Mikoto-san as well._ "Ever since five years ago, this has always been how Fugaku is on this day." _You aren't entirely happy either, Mikoto-san._ She smiles, though her eyes are sad. "It's the first time he's come home early on the seventh of May though."

I nod. "He does need to rest." Perhaps without someone to remind him, Chichi never stopped signing papers until evening came.

Her hand lands on my shoulder, and she guides me down the hallway. "Thank you, Hana-chan." _I haven't really done anything though._

The words stick in my throat.

She stops in front of a shoji door. There are golden chrysanthemums on the silk panels, and I can make out Chichi's handwriting on the dedication. 'Spring returns life to all flowers' "We thought..." Mikoto-san begins hesitantly. "That since you are our daughter, that you would like your own room here." She slides the door open.

The room beyond is outfitted traditionally, but each delicate silk paneled divider leaning against the opposite wall is painted with another flower. And each one has a dedication written in Chichi's handwriting. This is the space that he wishes to offer me in his life, more than the declaration he'd let me wear on my clothing, everything about this room is another whisper of affirmation that he could never say aloud. "I-" And I feel my throat threaten to choke the words from every escaping. "I don't know how to thank you."

"I should be the one thanking you." Mikoto-san smiles, more genuinely than she has all day. "He hasn't had flowers in his life for a long time before you crashed in."

And it is perfectly ironic that Tou-san chose to name me 'flower,' chose to name me for the very thing that my second father has lost in his life. _Tou-san._ I think, almost hysterically. _Did you look into the future, and did you see the man that would watch over me for you? Did you know that this would happen?_

I step forward into the room. "It's a beautiful place."

Mikoto-san slides the door shut behind us. "It is yours whenever you wish to stay over." She sits me down in a chair in front of the vanity and almost laughs as she slides Shisui's crane clip from my hair. "Shisui-kun does always love the shiniest baubles."

I sit as she runs a comb through my hair and a dam bursts. We talk about everything that we'd danced around before. It is sweet, compared to the bitterness of the day.

* * *

I return to the Civilian Council in the evening a week later. The men and women on the dais are busy seeing to affairs, so I stand in the shadows, and wait for them to conclude. They are not unfair in their judgments. They do better the lives of many of the petitioners. They extend loans. They broker trade deals, and they do not seem like they would forget the ninth district. After everything that has occurred, I still wish to believe the best of them.

"Hana?" San nudges my hand with one cold wet nose. "Why are we waiting for everyone else to go away?"

I scratch under his chin, and his eyes scrunch up to tiny satisfied slits. "Because it is only polite."

"I don't know why we would have to." Ni grouses from his curled up position at my feet. "We're just as valid as they are."

Ichi huffs. "Well, someone has to go last." _That's surprisingly mature of you, Ichi._ He turns his eyes towards me. "But it shouldn't be us."

I smother a laugh. "I thought you were growing up, Ichi." I pat his head. "But I'm glad to know that it isn't the case at all." The three of them pout and say nothing more.

The last petitioner ambles off into the night, and it's time that I had my answer. "Elder Nakatomi?" I step out of the shadows, and I see the elderly man startle, and the tensions in the room spike. "Might I have a word?"

He turns towards me, but the young man with dyed blue hair speaks first. "Why don't you understand that a shinobi's issues don't belong here?"

I turn to face him instead. "I am here for a civilian issue, on the behalf of civilians." And maybe it's because I've got a smart mouth that doesn't really know when to shut up when I'm angry that I continue. "As you would know if you paid any attention at all to what I said last time."

A middle aged man in red leans forwards. "You are the clan heiress of the Inuzuka." He looks as though he's said something exceptionally clever. "How do we know that you aren't here to advocate for your own clan interests at the expense of our power?"

"Because my clan has no interest in village politics?" We honestly didn't for the most part. As long as the village was safe, had missions we could take, and over all didn't do much policing, there's not much that we cared for regarding who does what, and what happens where and how. "We especially don't care about civilian politics."

While there are many Inuzukas, as we tended to have large families-as evidence...well, I have nine first cousins-most of us end up as some sort of ninja, working in tracking or frontline squads. There's no real stigma with wanting to be a civilian, but most of us don't end up that way. We're born for wild, brash, and impetuous things, and those do not often come to the lives of civilians.

"And how do we believe you?" The blue haired young man is back at it again. "Because simply altruistic reasons seem a little far fetched for a shinobi." The Triplets growl a challenge and I know it is only a matter of time before they get tired of listening to this conversation.

I replace myself with a vase on the dais so that I'm standing right next to him. It shatters on the ground behind me. _Better not let the Triplets maul some petty noble._ "I am an _Inuzuka,_ little lordling. We don't lie to other people for fun." All around us, the people gasp and shudder away, but not him. He's still sitting perfectly calmly, a paper folding fan casually moving back and forth in his hand.

He turns to regard me with a lazy eye. "You're a strange breed of little girl." He muses. "There's nothing like you in the capital at all."

"B-be careful who you're speaking to shinobi." The middle aged man who'd been speaking with such pomp stutters while pointing at us. "You wouldn't dare disrespect the-"

"Oh enough Imube." The young man waves his fan at the older man whom I presume is Imube-san of Kakunodate's Imube Clan. _The Imube Clan is related to the Daimyo. Who is this man, and how can he disrespect someone else who holds power at court that easily?_ "I think the girl is interesting enough."

The Nidaime himself had originally signed the contract for Yoshiwara with the Imube Clan. And Imube-san had said the, which implied that this young man has some sort of fearsome title.

The young man has turned back to regarding me with rather amused eyes. "Do be careful though little girl." He says as he rises from his reclining position. "I don't think aniue would like you very much." And then he stands up, and I notice at last, the sword at his hip- _so he does know how to fight. He moves too easily for it to be ceremonial-_ and promptly walks towards the door. His consistent use of little girl is frightfully irritating though.

The Triplets block his way like the good partners they are. "Who are you?" I stalk after him. "And why do you think I would ever speak to your elder brother?" He'd used a rather outdated and overly formal way of saying elder brother as well. _How many young men go around calling their elder brothers aniue? Nobles are such strange creatures._

He turns around, flipping the blue end of his high tail over his shoulder as he does so. "You, may call me Asahano." He announces rather grandly. This close, his makeup is unmistakable and obvious. The dragons on his formal kimono are inherently mocking, and the black chrysanthemums on his fan are mildly chilling. _He has to be a close relation of the Daimyo. There's no way that he isn't, not with everything that he's wearing._

 _Dragons. Nobility. Chrysanthemums. Nobility. Black. Nobility. Gold. Nobility. Someone is trying very hard to say that they have an imperial connection._

He'd also said that I may _call_ him Asahano which implies that his name is not really Asahano. "Very well, Asahano- _san_." I state, the suffix barely passing my tongue, but if he's really a blood relative of the Daimyo then I can't really afford to offend him. "Why would your aniue dislike me?"

He tilts his head to the side, and regards me with his cool green eyes. "My aniue hates outspoken women. I doubt he'll make an exception just because you're a girl."

"Alright." I respond, and I take a deep breath because today has not been going well. "You _may call me Hana. My name is not girl._ "

He blinks very slowly, and I am reminded of a cat who doesn't care what other people think. "Very well, Hana- _chan._ " And then he disappears in a swish of blue, out into the night.

One by one the other nobles rise and follow him out. It is clear that no proposal of mine will be heard tonight either.

The Triplets gather around me after we become the only ones left in the building. "What're we doing now?" Ni wonders as he licks his nose. "We're still helping the other people right?"

I pat his head. "Yes. Yes, we are." _I suppose it's time to enact the next stage of the plan._

 _If the nobles won't listen to me because I'm a shinobi, then they'll listen to the one civilian that ranks higher than them on the totem pole: the Daimyo, Kageyoshi Minamaru himself._

The only obstacle is how I'd get myself to Kakunodate and close enough to the Chrysanthemum Throne to speak to the Daimyo.

The young man's words come back to me. _I don't think my aniue would like you very much._ There is something very off about 'Asahano,' but I have no idea what it might be.

* * *

I wake up the next morning still musing about how I would go about seeking an audience with the Daimyo despite catching his wife's cat one too many times. It does look like I'd have to find someone to talk to about that, because I doubt that it's an easy task. I spend my morning pondering it in various stages of hopefulness, until I decide that I might as well go outside to train instead of worrying about various ways of contacting the Daimyo.

The moment I step out the door, a hand curls around my wrist and I am gently towed away towards the shrine. "Cousin Hana." And it's Cousin Gaku who's pulling me along. "A moment of your time."

I allow him to drag me into the shrine, and securely bar the door. "What's the matter, Cousin Gaku?" For the first time since the Kyubi Incident, he doesn't look conflicted, or lost, or confused.

I take it as a sign that he has finally recovered most of his lost memories.

"I'm going to reenter the organization." That's...It takes me a moment to actually comprehend what he'd just said.

"What?" _Did he just say that he's going back to ROOT? What does that even mean-why? Why would he do something like that when the first time around he forgot nearly everything about himself?_

"The organization that we spoke of last time." Cousin Gaku says very carefully as he lights the incense in front of Okami's statue. "I am going to reenter it as an active agent." He sounds determined. He sounds sure.

And I still don't understand what he's saying. "Why?" I grab his elbow so that he has to stop lighting the incense sticks and turn him around to face me. "Why would you voluntarily go back to something like that? You lost yourself the last time you went, and right now I don't think that you're actually any better. This is mad."

He sets his other hand over mine, and smiles, fangs sharp and eyes dancing. He looks almost like he did in my childhood memories. _Loud. Brash. Dancing eyes. Gruff words. He does remember himself again._ "Hana-hime." He begins, even as he kneels. "You need information." And suddenly his motivations are all too clear. _That's his plan to gain evidence? Has he actually gone insane?_

"But you can't talk about anything you learn from there." I try to pull him off the floor, but he isn't to be budged.

"If I go back, then I won't have to talk." The wild light in his eyes speaks of a fevorous joy. "They will speak for me." _He's going to take Danzo's records of his illicit dealings?_

And what he's saying is dangerous. So, so dangerous that I don't even know what to do about it. _If they caught him..._ "If you go back they'll break you again." I cup his face in my hands and pull his lips down into a frown. It does nothing for the wild light in his eyes. "You'll forget everything again."

He shakes his head. "No. I know exactly how they want me, and I know exactly how to fake it." His grin is bloodthirsty, and the smell of incense overpowering. The noon sun has climbed to it's peak, and I stand in a halo of lazy golden spring sunlight, and he is kneeling in front of me. "I will bring back your evidence, Hana-hime." _Or I will die trying to do it._

I can't entirely bring myself to keep looking at his golden confidence, his wild determination. I can't. I kneel down and hug him instead, a hand tangled in his messy hair. "Don't do it, Cousin Gaku. I-" _They'll break you all over again if you go back. And what's to say that they'd want you back a second time anyway?_ Of course, he couldn't tell me. The seal on his tongue prevents him from saying, but he seems so confident that they will take him back as soon as he just goes. "I don't need the evidence that much." But that's a lie I'm telling myself to make myself feel better.

The sad truth is that I desperately need whatever evidence I can get my hands on to condemn Shimura Danzo to an early grave, and I have no idea how I'm supposed to get my hands on it.

Cousin Gaku laughs, and carefully pries me off of him. "You do need the evidence, Hana-hime. And I am your best shot at getting it." He takes both of my hands and closes his eyes, but his determination burns all the same. "Thank you for caring." He opens his eyes and rises. "But I'm only telling you because I know if I just flat out disappear again you'll think the worst and come hunting."

"I might still come hunting." I whisper. "I don't want you to do something like this."

"I'll come back to you." He says gently. "The sun will rise in the west and the oceans will dry up before I break that promise." It still feels like I'm allowing him to casually wander towards his own death sentence. "I'm going to tell Tsume-baasan that I'm joining ANBU." _So that's how he's going to explain it to the clan._ "Please don't tear Konoha apart trying to find me, Hana-hime. I'm going to get what you need, and then I'm going to come back."

The last I see of him for a long, long time, is the back of his broad shoulders as he unbars the shrine door, and steps into the golden sunlight that spring day. The last in a long, long time.

* * *

 **A.N.** And we get more Uchiha-ness. Some random politicking going on, Asahano finally naming himself. (He was being so difficult about it.) and Cousin Gaku's official (according to Hana at any rate) descent into madness. At least he's taking control of his own life. Somehow, new beginnings are sprouting everywhere during Hana's tenth spring in Konoha.

Thank you so much to Killing Curse Eyes (The reason people misunderstand is because flowers have multiple meanings and the nonromantic ones are more obscure. Note how Fugaku never misunderstands her flowers, he asks if he's uncertain.), n1ghtdr34m3r (Hana's meeting with Danzo will be...interesting.), Guest (Yep. So many problems...), LittleMissSugarLess, Thorn98Biter (I'm glad you like it! and yeah, a lot of the time, Hana doesn't have the power for what she wants to do, but she's determined to do it. It's just a part of her which does make her somewhat puppyish.), AnimeFreak71777, bookdragonslayer, WhiteFang001, MrKreper, NightsBlackRose13 (That could be interesting...if Kiba ever bothered to check what's in the Archives.), and libraryrockerr for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed.

~Tavina


	54. Kakunodate Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I stand there, in the shrine, in the smoky air still staring at the space that Cousin Gaku had occupied only moments before. There's a dreadful sort of finality that speaks more of ash and dust than it does of sunlight and spring days. I turn to the statue of Okami. His face is wreathed in blue plumes of smoke, and in the haze it looks like fur. _White wolf._ Okami has ash colored hair and eyes a dark shade of gold, and the pelt around his shoulders is silvery. In mythology, Okami is always a white wolf.

But our clan statue has him dressed in a silver robe with red markings on the sleeves and ash gray fur in a ruff around his shoulders, high in the heavens above Yama in his two forms. Yama is more interesting though as he is both a silver haired man, and a massive black wolf. _It is strange to settle the dichotomy._

"Okami-sama." This shrine has always been at the heart of the clan compound. "Please protect our pack." I kneel and press my forehead to the ground. It is not generally within the boundaries of our pride to bow, but here in the shrine we are all his children. _Protect Cousin Gaku. He deserves so much more than this life he's chosen._

The statue of the man with ash gray hair and the same red fangs on his cheeks does nothing, but I really doubted that the statue would do much. _Even if Okami is real, he's hardly going to be a statue in the clan shrine._

With a sigh, I rise and return to my room.

* * *

The Triplets left much earlier in the morning, as sitting around and watching me sulk about how to reach the Daimyo as a lonely ten year old chunin isn't really something that they find interesting, or have advice for. Cousin Ashi's gone over to Kegawa-jisan's house to pester Cousin Kotsu about something, which leaves only me in the house.

My chakra control has improved, but only just barely, and it seems that I will never master the amount of control that Tou-san alluded to in his notes, but I do have the two required affinities, which theoretically means that I ought to be able to use the explosion release.

I pick up one of Deidara's spiders, and think back to what he'd said to me. _They'll explode too, if you say katsu and add chakra._ What, then, exactly made these spiders special compared to any normal clay spider made by a seven year old? I set it down at the edge of the table. He'd said I should add chakra to it, but I didn't want it to explode in my hand as I have no idea how large he'd made the blast radius. There's no reason to blow the house up.

I sit on the stool before my low table, and juggle six kunai, lost in thought. _Surely, not everyone in the Explosion Corps has the same amount of chakra control that Tou-san did. How then, do they master the explosion release? Besides, while Tou-san said he worked with clay, he didn't use it while on the battlefield._

And it's at this moment that one of the kunai slips from my grasp and slides across the table. It hits the spider I'd been looking at earlier and both objects fall onto the floor.

The white clay spider cracks and as I pick it up it breaks open into perfect halves, almost as if it had been designed to be broken. It's hollow on the inside though, or rather, it would be if there wasn't several crumpled pieces of paper in it.

I pick them up and smooth them out. _These are..._ They are covered with childish diagrams and scrawling descriptions of clay figurines labeled 8-14. _Dei-kun. Oh Kami._

He hadn't just given me spiders. He'd given me notes. He'd handed me the secrets of Iwa's most famous kekkei genkai, and if his teacher or anyone from Iwa had any idea what he'd done he'd be completely dead. _Can't teach you how to make them, un._ And he'd frowned so hard about it.

But he'd found a way. He'd found a way for him to teach me what I needed to know. He'd made me three clay spiders as a gift and stuffed them full of knowledge that he really shouldn't have given someone from another village. _But you're cousin, should know how._ I pick up another one of the spiders, and tap it with a kunai. It too, splits and there's a few more sheets of paper. These are covered front to back with tiny penned descriptions of duo chakra molding messily copied from what I assume are his own notes.

I pick up the third spider, and channel a tiny bit of chakra into it. "Katsu." I whisper. It splits in half revealing three more sheets of paper, diagrams and clay figurines 1-7. I gather up the six perfect spider halves and study the clay. There's nothing about it that says it's any different from normal white clay.

Carefully, I channel more chakra into it. There's traces of other chakra in it already, dormant and sluggishly moving about. As soon as Deidara's chakra touches mine, it speeds up, vibrating back and forth faster and faster. _Oh. Oh that isn't good at all._ I lob it into the air. "Katsu." I state, rather sarcastically. It's a very small explosion, bits of clay clatter onto my floor.

 _So his chakra's in there already, but he managed to make two volatile elements coexist peacefully until another chakra touches it, and then it explodes? How does that work?_

I pick up another spider half, this time, trying to figure out how he'd managed to stick two chakra natures into one very small patch of clay. _Are there even two chakra natures in here at all?_

Deidara's chakra is for lack of a better word, sunny. It also doesn't seem to give off an elemental affinity at all. _So...oh but wait, that makes sense._

Despite the names we give chakra releases, there's really only two things that make up the energy we use for ninjutsu. While it may manifest outside of the body as lightning or earth or fire or water those are just constructs. That's not what it is while inside the body. I quickly throw away the now vibrating spider half. It explodes into a shower of dust. _Last time, it made bigger pieces, but I let it vibrate a bit longer this time. That means that the type of explosion changes when vibrated more?_

Chakra is a combination of physical and spiritual energies. To balance the two in equal percentages is to create the chakra that's used for daily ninjutsu like clones or substitution. To have more spiritual energy is to use Yin chakra. To use more physical is to create Yang chakra. And elemental releases come from... _Changing the vibration or energy levels._

I make a single hand seal and pull chakra towards my hands for the Earth Flow River, but I don't finish the technique. Instead, I examine how the chakra actually feels when prepping the jutsu. It's slow, methodical, like molasses, dormant.

Just like the chakra Deidara left in his little clay spiders. _That's how you actually make an earth river from just chakra, you're encouraging the earth to move with the chakra you put into the ground._ And all living things have chakra. All living things already had a pattern to the flow of energy inside them. So the chakra Deidara had left in his clay spiders didn't automatically explode because they were more earth natured, and therefore traveled with the energy paths inside the clay itself.

The explosion occurs due to a disruption of those natural paths...which theoretically means that anything could be a basis for explosions.

I will the chakra gathered in my hands to move faster. Some of it leaks out into the air and sparks and sizzles. Chakra for Raiton did move significantly faster than Doton, but it's a jerky sort of movement, there are pauses, leaps and gaps between one bit and another bit.

And to combine them both? I separate my hands. I keep one hand constant and steady while willing the chakra gathered in the other hand to slow down, back into the more molasses like movement. Then I slap both of my hands together and push the chakra in both hands out into the world.

The very air in front of me explodes.

* * *

I lie there on my back for a long moment, blinking up at my ceiling. _Ouch. That was a stupidly bad idea._ The resulting blast had pushed me backwards, and as I'd been sitting on the stool I'd merely topped backwards onto the floor. It is still an experience that I don't really wish to repeat though.

There's a sort of numb feeling in my hands, and my left hand aches horribly when I set it down to push myself up. I hold it up to the light.

There are three torn nails-ring, middle and index fingers- _The closest fingers on the hand you were molding Raiton chakra on-_ my mind helpfully supplies, and trace amounts of blood dripping from my fingertips onto my face. I turn my hand over. The other side is unharmed. I check my right hand.

It's fine. _Well that's good. All could be worse. Instead of three torn nails and an aching head, I could have no hands._

I use that hand to push me up, and pull my first aid kit towards me. While torn nails are painful, they aren't that bad compared to other various injuries I've suffered. I carefully blot the ends with blood clotter, disinfect with rubbing alcohol, slather on open wound ointment, and bandage the tips of my fingers. I could go to the hospital later, but then I'd have to explain what I'd been doing to get three nails torn off.

I decide to leave it for later.

Deidara's papers have been scattered all over the floor, and I scoop them up and set them in a desk drawer, sandwiched between a few different sets of plans for the ninth district and Tou-san's chakra control notes. There has to be a safer place to put them, now that I know how valuable they are and what sort of trouble he'd gone to to give them to me, but I'm not overly worried. There's no one who knows that I have them besides Deidara and I, and as long as no one sees them by accident there's no harm really.

I make sure to sweep up the clay fragments, and set the four half spiders carefully in the same desk drawer, on top of the other papers, and head out.

There's other stuff I have to accomplish today, like how to get a mission to Kakunodate, and how to approach the Daimyo once I'm there.

* * *

I head towards the Archives for advice. At this point, it's almost a reflexive action. When in doubt about politics, head towards Suzaku-san and he won't steer me wrong. _Suzaku-san's surprisingly up to date on political issues for someone who sits around in the Archives and smokes cigars all day seven days a week._

But then, he's also the keeper of practically all the book keeping information in Konoha, at least for the shinobi population, and he has a brain that could fit at least ten libraries inside itself, so on second thought, his uncanny political knowledge makes perfect sense. It's also mildly perturbing to think of just how badly he could mess up the entire infrastructure of Konoha if he wanted to. _For someone who knows so much, he sure doesn't do anything about it._

I think it over, and shrug. _It's probably for the best. If any Nara actually gained a modicum of motivation they'd probably either conquer the world, and thus, make it more organized, or they'd burn everything down._

I do not, in all actuality, make it to the Archives like I'd planned. I'm walking along a side street towards the Hokage Tower...and then a green blur sprints past me and doubles back.

"AH! I HAVE FINALLY MANAGED TO LOCATE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BLOSSOM OF YOUTH!" At some points, I wonder if Gai's smile is even anatomically possible.

"Um...hi?" I offer him a weak wave. _Why were you trying to locate me again, Gai-san?_

He strikes a nice guy pose and sends me a thumbs up. "MY ETERNALLY HIP AND COOL RIVAL WANTS YOU TO JUDGE OUR NEXT COMPETITION!"

I blink. "Are you sure that _Kakashi_ came up with that idea?" _It sounds more like something you would come up with, Gai-san._

"Maa." A hand lands in my hair. "Well, if that's the idea, I don't have an objections to it."

I peel his fingers off of my head carefully. "If I judge your competition, will you help me with a training favor?" It's not the nicest thing to ask him, but seeing as he _is_ a prodigy perhaps he'd be able to explain just why the explosion release is a kekkei genkai. _What I did earlier today wasn't really all that hard. There has to be a reason that no one outside of that particular set of DNA in Iwa has done something like this by now._

And as I could reasonably envision him being proficient with two elements, he's really the most optimal person I could ask in regards to the whole affair.

He peers at me from up close. "What's the favor?" And then he has the audacity to pat my head. "I forget that you're really just a cute chunin, Hana-chan!"

"Not everyone can be an ANBU genius by age ten." I grouse.

Gai looks back and forth between us as if he has no idea what's going on. To be honest, he probably doesn't. I don't even know what's going on and I'm taking part in this conversation.

"At any rate," I continue. "I'll judge your competition if you answer a few questions regarding dual elemental affinities."

Kakashi considers it, and I just know that he's mocking me because he strikes an exaggerated pose with a hand on his chin. "Done!" He grabs my left hand and is about to shake it before I hiss with pain. And suddenly he's looking very closely at it indeed, and peeling bandages off of a finger to check the injury level underneath. "Did you go on a mission, _Hana-chan_?" There's a cool edge to his voice that's just a little bit dark, and I know I have to nip this in the bud. _I don't know why he's so angry all of a sudden, but it's really better to set the record straight._

"No, I didn't." I pull my hand back, and carefully rewrap my bandages. "I had a training accident this afternoon, that's all."

"MY ETERNAL RIVAL! WE STILL MUST COMPLETE OUR RACE!" Gai interjects, and it's the most thankful I've been all day. _Oh thank Kami for Maito Gai. That was an awkward experience._

* * *

I end up standing on top of the Hokage Mountain, specifically over the head of the Nidaime setting up the ending goal post of their race. And then I'm just supposed to wait for one of them to show up at the top of the mountain and pass the white ribbon.

There are worse ways to spend an hour or so I'm sure. There are worse things to do, but actually watching the race instead of judging the end result would probably be more fun. Alas, I have no giant clay bird to fly on and sit over the entire village. _A project to consider in the future._ I decide.

I brush my bangs back from my face, and my left hand tingles. _Medical ninjutsu is also a thought for the future._

The thing about Medical ninjutsu though, is that I'd likely be really bad at it. Hana had been a vet in another life, but something had to have been messed up this time around because my chakra control is just modestly above average. It's probably because we aren't the same soul. I'd come to this world with an exceptionally large amount of spiritual energy, and then I'd overcompensated with my training regime to bring the physical aspect of chakra under control.

It's left me with above average chakra control, which is kind of a mark against being a medic nin. I don't know if it would be any better if my chakra had been more balanced from the start.

A Hana that had inherited Inuzuka Kaito's chakra control would probably have gone on to be an exceptional medic down at the hospital. Me...not so much. _I have no idea how many fish I'm likely to kill before getting anywhere with that project._

 _Still..._ And I think over how many injuries the people I care about have already suffered. Even at the risk of being truly mistaken for Nohara Rin by an injured Kakashi...it is probably better to at least learn basic medical ninjutsu even if I never became great at it. The empirical gains outweighed any of the potential losses should I not succeed. Even if the odds are currently stacked against me, I can't assume that something is just impossible.

 _I ended up in this world after all. By all rights, my very existence is impossible, yet here I stand._

I have no time to consider the thought further though. There's just one cloud of dust heading up the mountain, but I assume that Gai and Kakashi are going head to head.

It's time for me to actually be a judge.

Two blurs are sprinting towards the finish line, but it's the green blur that rips the white ribbon from it's moorings before the gray blur. "Gai-san won that one." I state flatly when both of them turn towards me in anticipation. Both of them look kind of shocked and disbelieving though."By all of...half a second." I justify. "Gai-san won because the green blur passed the ribbon a half second before the gray one, and Gai-san also has a very distinctive sounding run. That one reached my ears earlier."

I couldn't really judge them based on scent, because that's not really how races work, but I could judge by sight and hearing, and by both, Gai had clattered over the finish line before Kakashi.

"YOSH!" Gai screams. "TO CELEBRATE MY VICTORY I SHALL DO A THOUSAND JUMPING JACKS ON MY HANDS!" He then proceeds to race off towards the village.

And then it's just Kakashi, me and my injured left hand.

* * *

"Every time we meet you seem closer to killing yourself." Kakashi comments as we stroll down the mountain and back towards the village at a leisurely pace.

"Speak for yourself." I mutter. "You've been to the hospital more than I have during our acquaintance." _Isn't this an over reaction to simply torn finger nails?_

"I hear that during the Chunin Exams in Suna two years ago, you were unconscious for two whole days." He sounds vaguely displeased, and I have no idea _why._

 _Honestly, that was two years ago._ "And you very nearly died in your own apartment due to a common cold because somehow you couldn't be bothered to get up and find some antibiotics." I look up at him, at his covered left eye, his mask and wish that I could just rip the thing off so that I could read the set of his mouth. _That's probably why he has the mask to begin with. The enemy nin would probably learn really quickly how expressive he really is if he didn't wear that thing._

 _As it is, he still shows more emotion in the one eye he has uncovered compared to Chichi's entire body._

"I deny that ever happened." He singsongs and I struggle to reign in the irritation I feel.

"I just don't think you have any right to-" But hadn't I- _Everyone that he cares about ends up dead._ "I'm _not_ going to die just because I happen to talk to you on occasion!"

We're standing outside his apartment door at this point, and I'm sure the neighbors are getting quite a show. It might even be the first time that they've ever seen Kakashi to be honest. I don't know how he normally enters his living space, but I'm sure it isn't the normal way.

"Is that what I said?" He muses while glaring at my bandaged fingers. "I don't think that's what I said!" And I could learn to hate his a hundred percent plastic smiles for the sheer fakeness that they radiate in every direction.

"It's what you meant." I jab a not injured finger in his direction. "And that's just unreasonable."

"I have no idea what you mean." He sings as he unlocks his door and we step into his foyer-hallway.

"You are not some weird bad luck charm that kills people." I stand with my hands on my hips and grouse at him. "Don't you think attributing the deaths of people you know to just your existence is a bit arrogant of you? You're not the only reason for people dying you know."

He shrugs, and pads onward towards the kitchen. "Explain my plight to me then, because I don't seem to understand."

"Other people's loved ones die too, you know." I hold up a finger. "Kaa-san lost her elder sister, and her husband in a single year. Do you think she spent all her time thinking about how she killed them by existing?"

And Kakashi is completely unlucky, but I'm fairly certain that it really isn't his fault. His shoulders slump forward. "I might have overreacted." He admits as he starts rummaging around in his refrigerator.

I plop myself down on my designated chair. "You've just gotten stuck in your thinking." I shrug. "It happens to everyone. For example, Chichi thinks that coffee makes the world go round and his grief should just be confined to himself."

"Chichi?" He turns from arranging his eggplants in a pyramid on his kitchen counter. "I'm under the impression that your Otou-san is dead?"

I gesture to the tiny Uchiwa on my left sleeve. "I've gained an adoptive father. Chichi is Ita-kun's Tou-san."

The peeler he'd been holding slides from his grasp comically. "Uchiha _Fugaku_?"

I frown at him. "Are you saying that that's something that's so unbelievable?" There's nothing wrong with Chichi. I have no idea why absolutely everyone thinks that he's emotionally dead. It's clear for anyone who spends any amount of time with him that Uchiha Fugaku is most certainly capable of positive human emotion.

Kakashi does not respond. He merely peels and then expertly fries eggplants without a single word. The miso soup is similarly taken care of, with about as much perfection as a professional chef.

* * *

He sets food on the kitchen table, and I wince almost imperceptibly. _Why must he be better at cooking than me?_

 _Well,_ a small and rather nasty voice snarks back, _would you prefer to eat burnt eggplant? Would you like that sort of thing?_ And there's not much I can say in the face of that, because of course I'd rather eat good food than not. _It really begs the question of why he bears with my horrible culinary skills when he can produce edible food with absolutely no effort whatsoever._

I take the chopsticks that he hands me. "Thank you."

He sits down on the other side of the table, in the similarly mismatched chair and nods. "You said you had a training question?"

I swallow my food before answering him with another question. "You're primarily a Raiton User, right?" He nods, but doesn't say anything. "And you're also capable of using Doton and Katon and Suiton." I assume he's copied enough jutsu with the sharingan to be proficient with those releases as well.

He nods again. "I don't think that's your training question." He comments, completely unhelpfully.

"I was getting to it." I jab my chopsticks to the side of my bowl of rice, chew aggressively, and then continue. "My question is, why haven't you tried to combine any of those to make new jutsu? Why does jutsu have to have only one elemental affinity?"

"Well." He begins and his singular eye is scrutinizing me with uncommon interest. "Because that's called a kekkei genkai, Hana-chan."

 _What? Combining elemental natures is always a kekkei genkai?_ My thoughts dissolve into gibberish right about here. "But how does that even work? Splitting focus so that it's just one in each hand isn't the hardest thing to do."

He glances down at my bandaged left hand. "What exactly did you try?"

My mouth clicks shut. "I'm not telling you that." I don't think he'd react well to the idea that I'd just slammed two chakra natures together and hoped that the resulting explosion wouldn't flat out kill me. He's still eyeing me with a slight amount of a wary interest though. "I'd love to tell you, but that's a pack secret." And now he can go and assume that it's some secret Inuzuka Clan thing, because technically everything I've said is correct.

"Hmmm..." He responds. "Somehow I think there's something you aren't talking to me about Hana-chan." And now his face is very close to mine indeed. "And I don't like it. Not. One. Little. Bit."

I lean away from him. "It's not going to kill me." _At least, I don't think it is._ "So you have no right to complain. The only rule to our friendship thus far is that I can't die and leave you all alone in the world right?"

He blinks. "So that's what you think it is." And now he's retreated back to a regular person's amount of personal space. "That wasn't what I thought it was."

"Well what did you think it was?" I throw up my hands. _Honestly, trying to understand you is worse than trying to figure out why people build sand castles at low tide and expect them still to be there tomorrow. You make just as much sense as stupidity._

"That you'll never get injured ever." He practically sings. "But I know that's unreasonable so I'll accept your rule. First Rule of Friendship: Hana-chan's not allowed to get herself killed before me!"

I groan. "I'd rather that you didn't get yourself killed for no good reason either, _Kakashi._ " I make sure to smile at him in a way that he could perfectly see all of my teeth. "Otherwise I'd have to visit hell to claw your face off for being irritating." I pause and make sure that my smile is still in place before continuing. "And then your face won't look so... _pretty_ anymore."

He's frozen halfway between shock and amusement for a moment, and then he bursts out laughing. "Pretty?" He gasps. "I knew there was a reason I kept you."

* * *

After a good night's sleep I decide that I don't need to visit Suzaku-san about my next course of action after all. I could just use logic to persuade Danzo to help me commission a mission for the people of the ninth district to go and visit the Daimyo. Sure, he hadn't been enthusiastic about it when viewing it from a personally altruistic standpoint, but Suzaku-san's right.

 _If his primary motivator is making sure that Konoha's stronger than everything else, and he wants that by hook or by crook, then he's really not going to be happy that some civilian noble clans based in Kakunodate can just simply influence the economy of an entire district of Konoha to make money for themselves._

 _As long as I make sure that that's the main focus of my discussion with him, then I'll be able to ensure that he pays attention to me._

As such, I use my hour long lunch break from paper filing to my advantage, forgoing eating for the time being, and run down to the Tower to schedule an appointment with the Darkness of Shinobi himself.

"Do you have a scheduled meeting with Hokage-sama?"

I smile at the chunin at the reception desk on the first floor of the tower. "I'm here to speak to Elder Shimura actually. Could you schedule me an appointment?"

The receptionist glances down. "At about what time would you like this appointment to be?"

"As soon as possible, please." There's no point in dithering. If he'd help me, then he'd help me. If not, I would have to find time to meet with the Hokage himself who would be much harder to persuade since I didn't know nearly as many of Sarutobi Hiruzen's buttons.

The receptionist looks back up at me. "Well you're in luck then." He casually flips a pen around his hands. "Elder Shimura has an opening right now for half an hour. You can go right up to see him."

 _Oh. Well. That's not exactly what I meant when I said as soon as possible._

 _But it is exactly what I asked for._ I take a deep breath, paste on a smile and thank the chunin for being so useful and prompt. And then I eye the stairs with trepidation and promptly sprint up them two at a time. If I give myself any time to hesitate, all of my courage would just go up in smoke.

I raise a hand to rap on his door. "Elder Shimura? It's Inuzuka Hana."

There's no response for a long moment, and I think perhaps he's actually stepped out for lunch, and I won't have to meet him today.

Alas, the universe has a way of dashing my fondest hopes. "Come in."

 _It's all over now._ I close my eyes, take a deep breath- _If he helps me, he helps me. If he doesn't help me, I'm not really worse off.-_ and push open the door.

* * *

 **A.N.** And the meeting between Danzo and Hana will happen next chapter! In this chapter...Hana learns about explosion release, hurts her fingers, judges a race, and has yet another conversation with Kakashi. No Uchihas made any appearances whatsoever this chapter.

But Kakashi...this scene was interesting. Hana did not notice this particularly, but this is the first meal that they share in which Kakashi cooks.

Thank you so much to hasan9206 (Thank you! I like how Fugaku's personality has developed so far as well. It's made him more interesting.), Shy911 (Aww, I'm sorry that it upset you. Hana does say that she sees him again, so that's something right? He does have more of a part to play.), JustQuokka (Kakashi makes more appearances this chapter! He took up more space than planned yet again. ._.), WhiteFang001 (Yeah, Mikoto deserves to develop some more of her own character. I've always found her to be Fugaku's almost perfect compliment to be honest. They seem like a very close couple in canon.), Zeru'Xil (All Uchihas are adorable in their own way.), Guest One (Kiba is Hana's light. Sasuke...well, Sasuke's not there yet. And in canon Itachi is 13 when he massacres everyone.), AnimeFreak7177 (:P), oleaster (I've always loved writing dialogue. It's a big part of developing characters. I'm glad you like it.), 33 (Hana is at times, complacent about some things. It's one of her many flaws.), Cooked Ghost (Wow, that's a really cool name. I'm glad no one's become OOC yet. When planning and writing Fugaku, it's always difficult to tell. And we will see Dei-kun again! He is super wonderful.), NightsBlackRose13 (Oh, Nara-sensei will not be pleased, but he's kind of indisposed fight-wise right now. So there's just going to be a lot of anger. That and Hana's been purposefully keeping things from him because she doesn't want him to worry since he's not entirely great. It'll make some things worse.), libraryrockerr, Born to Sleep (Hana really should.), Guest Two (She does. There are definitely some Shakespeare quotes floating around, and other lines are lifted sometimes as well.), and Ayat (Welcome to Bloodless!) for reviewing!

And to everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	55. Kakunodate Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I bow about forty five degrees as I step into the office. "Good day, Elder Shimura." I hold my position for the polite count of three, and then I rise. "I'm sorry for disturbing your lunch period, but-" I fall silent. _I have no idea what he's thinking._

He's looking at me with a contemplative expression, his fingers steepled over his extraordinarily bare wooden table. There's no food in sight. _Perhaps he doesn't eat food because he's actually the devil?_ I think rather hysterically. _Why did I think this was a good idea?_ "What are you here for, Heiress Inuzuka?"

I take a deep breath, straighten my shoulders and arrange my cluttered thoughts into some semblance of order and begin. "It's come to my attention that specific noble clans in Kakunodate have been controlling the economy of Konoha's civilian district."

Danzo frowns, his heavy black eyebrows drawing together. "Which one?"

And this is the tricky part, if I don't get this right, I've made myself noticeable to him for no reason at all. _Keep calm, Blossom._ "The Ninth District, Elder Shimura. The rampant poverty is a scheme that the Imube Clan oversees to keep control of the civilian population there. It's in direct violation of several legal documents."

"Yoshiwara was a district signed into being by Tobirama-sama." He leans back into his chair. "The civilian nobility does have more influence there, as covered by the original charter."

 _It's true. But that's not what's happening exactly._ "The various noble clans are allowed to own businesses inside the pleasure district as commissioned by the original charter." I flip through my papers until I find my hand copied version of the charter. "That's stated clearly, but what is also stated is that the nobility is not allowed to use slavery as a way of keeping the working population constant." I hand over my copy of the charter for his perusal. "That's stated very clearly in the second accord agreement. Slavery, be it physical, emotional, or financial has been outlawed since the days of the Shodaime."

He glances down at the relevant section, and sets the pages on his desk."And as far as we are aware there are no signs of slavery inside Yoshiwara, Inuzuka-chan."

"Not technically." I respond. "But based on personal observation," And here I hand over a list of problems inside the ninth district itself. "These various problems ought to be a priority of the Civilian Council, as that's defined in their mission statement. They are honor bound to fix these problems."

His eyebrows rise. "And what is to say that they aren't working on these issues?"

"They are encouraging the enslavement of girls and young women within the pleasure district, often colloquially referred to as the 'upper district' by not fixing the problems. This creates an situation in which the young women are financially obligated to sell themselves to various business establishments in the upper districts to support either their own lives or their family's. That's financial slavery, which is illegal in Konoha." I sigh, and my shoulders slump forward. "But it makes a lot of profit since they don't have to adhere to any sort of minimum wage either which is why the nobles clans on the Civilian Council ignore their duties as a governing body. It's not in their monetary interest to fix the living situations."

"It is in the Hokage's better interest not to offend various clans that fund the initiatives of the Tower." Danzo observes. _Of course. Konoha has to rely on civilian income to survive. Even the most militant of the Hokage's Council recognizes that. It is how we keep the shinobi population fed, clothed and armored. It's how the entire economy of Konoha as a whole runs._

 _But I cannot let an entire district lag behind. I can't let them keep breaking the law, and use financial slavery as a way to profit._

"But I have a way to solve this issue without having the Hokage stepping into the already muddied waters." I set my shaking hands on his desk, and pray that my legs are not noticeably trembling. "Civilian law in Konoha ought to be enforced by the Civilian Council, but on the chance that the Civilian Council does not act, the matter may be taken to the Daimyo himself." I wet my lips. "I would like to volunteer for a mission to visit Kakunodate, to bring the matter to the attention of Kageyoshi Minamaru."

"So that's what you wanted." Danzo picks up one of my papers and glances down at it with a rather bemused expression. "You're a little young to be a diplomat, aren't you?" There's something far away in his eyes, something that I am unable to identify. _Nostalgia? Nostalgia makes no sense though. What's it that he's remembering? What would he have to remember?_

"I've already invested time and energy into the matter, Elder Shimura." I do not look at him. I want to know what he's thinking of, but I don't want to be eaten whole by the darkness, and his eyes seem to be able to read every thought inside my skull. _Cousin Gaku...Cousin Gaku's life depends on staying in this man's good graces. I cannot offend him. I can't. I can't even breath near him. Oh Kami._ "I would like to see it completed, and perhaps..." I stumble over my words, and I correct myself. "Perhaps the Daimyo's court will find a little shinobi less intimidating than a big one."

"A little shinobi." Danzo comments flatly. _It does sound stupid, if I think about it too hard._

"I am not very old. I have no special powers." I offer. "If Hokage-sama were to write a letter about this issue it would seem that he's placing himself above the Daimyo's ruling power or incapable of dealing with the issue himself." Neither of those options are optimal. "If I were to request a meeting with the Daimyo, it would not be nearly so threatening." I take a deep breath. "If Hokage-sama would allow me to travel to Kakunodate, I could try, and if I fail it does not reflect on the Tower, merely on my clan." _And that's really what I'm bargaining with-the honor of the Inuzuka name. If I fail in court it is a reflection of the typical Inuzuka lack of diplomacy, nothing more._

But it is a large thing to risk. If I am to fail- _I will not think of failure now. I can worry more later should I fail in truth._

When I raise my eyes, he's smiling, slow and amused. "And yet, why should such an important task fall to you?" _I am only ten years old. It is a strike against me, that is true._

"Anyone who is older and with more experience may be seen as a subtle threat." I murmur. "I am not a threatening figure." I'm really not. I'm a short ten year old, who, with the right amount of dress up, looks more like a cute kid than a shinobi. "Perhaps the Chrysanthemum Court would be more willing to listen." _They would listen to my suggestions a little more than someone like Chichi or the Hokage or another famous shinobi perhaps._

 _I am not seeking to make the Daimyo bow to my whims, just to ask him for a favor and a child's favors are more easily granted than an adult's._

"How very astute of you." His eyes flick over to the Uchiwa on my shirt. "Your potential is wasted doing grunt work down at the military police station."

I tug at my left sleeve reflexively. "I am very fond of my job. It is-" I stumble again. "It is an important one for the prosperity of Konoha's citizens."

"Your father said the same of RnD." There is something that I am heavily unable to place in his voice now. Danzo rises and walks towards his door. "I will speak to Hiruzen, but see that you are more careful that Inuzuka Kaito."

I feel my blood cool in my veins. "I wasn't aware that Tou-san was someone you knew, Elder Shimura." _Tou-san died in an accident. The reports said that he'd been caught up in an explosion...he'd make a mistake. They said it was a miracle he didn't blow up the entire ninth ward._

 _I suppose that's what Danzo meant. If I make a wrong move, I'd end up causing a whole lot of grief for the cleanup crews._

"Not well." He holds the door open for me to leave his office. "But he was quite well known in Research and Development." A reference to his fatal accident I guess.

Blowing yourself up does cause quite a stir, even if it is by accident.

I bow once more. "Thank you for your time, Elder Shimura. May your days be long." _Not if I have anything to say about it. Your days would be short indeed if I have the power I want._

He nods absently and then I flee before he can read any frustration or anger in my features.

* * *

"Hana?" I'm interrupted from my rather abrupt flight from Danzo's office. "Hana-chan!"

I blink and my vision lands on a waving brown haired girl. _Izumi? Uchiha Izumi?_ "Izumi-chan?" It's been ages since I've seen her. She hadn't graduated with Toku, Mu-kun, Ita-kun and I, so we haven't been moving in the same circle of acquaintances. "How have you been?" We hadn't been close in the Academy, though she'd often beat me at taijutsu then. And then I became serious, and she became second in the class, though she seemed to bear it with good grace now that I look back.

She's clearly excited to see me though. "It's been so long since I've seen you! I hear you were a part of Itachi-kun's team." She loops her arm through mine, and we head out into the street. "Tell me about everything that's happened!"

Everything...and now that I look back on the last three years that we've spent apart. "Well..." And I remember Sensei coughing up blood in the sink. Ita-kun's pale face as he recounts how he got the mangekyo sharingan, Koma-senpai's appearance at New Year's...Cousin Gaku disappearing into the morning sun. "It's been alright." There'd been happy times, but the grief and fear is easy to remember, the happy laughing memories come harder. "Did you recently graduate?" I ask, with a nod towards her hitai-ate.

 _If she graduated with the spring class, all they've really done so far probably, is train and take D-rank missions. A happier time. A simpler time._

 _I sound so jaded and old. I wonder if this is how Kakashi feels when confronted with me?_

 _Back when I had a Sensei and teammates. A happier time. A simpler time._ The thought's hysterical.

"Yeah." She smiles. "Three years after our class prodigies, but I don't think ten's too old an age." She notes the Uchiwa on my shirt though, and I can see the exact moment that she notices, because a small amount of confusion crosses her features. "Who?" She asks as she traces a finger over the stitched fan.

"Fugaku-san." I say, for her benefit because I doubt saying Chichi would elucidate the issue at all. And then I remember that I'm really on lunch break...and that I'm more than half an hour late already. "And I'm sorry, Izumi-chan, but I'm wanted down at the station."

I unhook my arm from hers and race down the street in blind panic. _I've never been late before. I've only been working for all of two months. But I've never been late before._

* * *

Panic follows me as I hurry through the lobby and down to Chichi's office. I hurry through the doorway. "I'm sorry!" I bow, and in the same moment, the door slams against the opposite wall with a bang.

I wince. "I'm sorry." I whisper again, and move over to close the door. _I am a ditz. It's official._

"Hana." Chichi says, his voice neither icy nor furious, just simply monotone.

I freeze, my hand on the door frame, and do not move. It is hard to believe that I am the descendant of wolves at this moment, because I feel more like a frightened rabbit than anything else. "Yes, Chichi?"

"Look at me." And now he sounds amused, but I cannot trust my ears when speaking to him.

I have to look. The bright sunlight behind him makes it hard to read his features from half a room away, but the set of his lips says that he isn't angry.

"Why are you so hasty?"

I close the door, and return to the pile of papers he's signed. It is more than an inch thicker than when I left it. I've fallen behind again. "I am late." I whisper. "And that is not fair to you." It is not fair to expect him to keep working while I wandered about without a care in the world. That's why I'm upset about being late, I realize. It's not whether or not he'd be angry with me. It's that it just isn't fair. I pull the top inch of the stack towards me, and sit down in my chair at the end his desk and begin skimming the top page.

"You are ten." Chichi's hand lands on top of the page. _You are allowed to be late._ I hear, but that does not excuse me. _I am not entirely ten._

"I can't ignore what I've begun." I gently move his hand away from the paper. "But I did have something I wanted to tell you." Chichi inclines his head and says not a word, but he's stopped to listen. "I visited Elder Shimura today," I begin, and Chichi begins to visibly frown. "And he's going to speak to the Hokage about my trip to Kakunodate." It's only at this point that I realize that I've actually told no one about my trip, not even Suzaku-san. "It's to talk to the Daimyo about the ninth district." I clarify. "Since the civilian clans are blocking the reforms."

Chichi sets his hands on his desk. From so close to him, I can see them shaking. "Thank you." And there are paragraphs of praise in those two words, but his simple gratitude means more than entire speeches of praise.

"I haven't succeeded yet." I do not want him to have false hope. "I haven't done anything yet."

"It is not nothing." He says quietly. "How long?" _How long will you be gone?_

"I don't know." I set the top page onto one pile, and the second page onto the stack beside my feet. "Perhaps a month or so. It is unclear what Hokage-sama will decide."

We spend the rest of the day in silence.

* * *

I head over to the Uchiha District on Saturday, with Kiba-chan in tow. Mikoto-san had said that she wanted to see me, and thus I make time for her. At the current moment, Kiba's mumbling with Akamaru, a paint can dangling from his hands full of unmentionable objects that I am not allowed to carry.

"I'm grown up now!" He announces when I try to take it from him again. "Just like Neechan, so can carry it by myself."

I laugh and ruffle his hair. "Of course, you'll be five in July, and that's super old, you know?"

He beams at me, Akamaru hanging out of his collar. "And maybe I can even persuade Kaa-san to send me to the Academy." He sighs. "But then maybe Sasuke can't come."

"He's not going in the fall?" I frown. _Is this new initiative Mikoto-san's? Or is it Chichi's?_ "If he isn't going, maybe you should stay behind for another year." I want Kiba to have friends in his class. I want to make sure of this because otherwise he'd be terribly bored, and not even try to succeed, and that just won't do at all.

More than that though, I want Kiba to stay a child for as long as possible. I want him to have all the fun in the world before they turn his happy smiles into fanged and angry ones. I want him to sing and dance and play and climb into my bed when thunder shakes the skies before they tell him that's not what grown up boys do. I want him to cry when he's sad before he learns shinobi rule number 25.

I want him to stay as he is for just a little while longer. For him just to be Kiba, who adores me and argues with Sasuke and dances in the spring rain, jumping through every mud puddle in sight.

"M. Maybe." He kicks a stone across the road. "Wanna go and be strong though."

"Remember what we're strong for, Kiba-chan." I take his right hand, it's not holding a paint can. "We're strong so we can protect other people." We're inside the Uchiha District, and it's not the same as the first time I was here.

An old woman waves at us on our way towards Itachi's house, and I wave back at her with my free hand. Kiba bounces up and down, and the woman covers her mouth, but I can see the laughter in her eyes. _Kiba is easy to love, and he is here even more often than I am._

"But Neechan was already at Academy at my age." He whines. "And Neechan's really strong. I wanna go too."

"I'll teach you how to throw kunai when we go home." I promise him. I can't teach him chakra techniques, because that might overload his developing system. He's so much more enthusiastic and one track minded than me, but I can help him become better. I can make sure that he learns taijutsu a little earlier. I can make sure that he knows the right way to hold a kunai by the time he gets to the Academy.

"Okay!" He cheers and races on ahead. "Take that Sasuke!" _Oh of course, it's at least partially about Sasuke._ I'm sure it's not all about Sasuke, but being able to brag to him always makes Kiba's day.

* * *

"Mikoto-san?" I've searched through the other rooms of the house, and I am fairly certain that I've found her when I step into the kitchen. "You told Chichi that you wanted to see me?"

She turns to me with a smile from where she's piling different tea leaves on her counter. "Hana-chan!" She takes me by the hand and pulls me towards the tea leaves. "I wanted to make sure to give your Nara-sensei a present for the Bon Festival as he's been so good to apprentice Itachi-kun." She sighs. "But I don't know what his favorite flavor of tea is, and Itachi couldn't tell me to save his life."

"It's rose." I say automatically. "Sensei's favorite tea is rose. He's a hopeless romantic at heart and he loves the floral aspect of it. Barring that, Sensei loves flower teas, chrysanthemum, hibiscus, or even lily would be greatly appreciated."

"Oh that boy." Mikoto-san laughs. "Itachi could only tell me that his shishou's favorite tea might be brown."

And that is funny, because Sensei's never made it a secret that he loves flower teas more than any traditional flavorings. "Sensei loves flower teas because he married a flower girl." I prop my head up on my hands on the counter and sigh. _If only I could solve every problem as easily as I solve crises about tea flavors._

"Nara Kihona-san, right?" And it's only now that I remember that Mikoto-san has some sort of history with Kiho-baachan regarding Tou-san.

"Mikoto-san?" I begin. "What happened between you, Kiho-baachan, and Tou-san?"

Her hands freeze. "It's a very long story, Hana-chan." She sits down on a chair by the counter top and sweeps the dried rose petals back into a porcelain holder. "And things have become muddied since." She sets the container down on the counter and turns to face me. "I won't deny that I was angry with your Otou-san, but it was for different reasons that Kihona might have thought."

I consider it. Mikoto-san doesn't seem like the type of woman to behave snobbishly just because Tou-san was born in a different country. "I still want to know about it."

She smiles. "Of course you do." Her eyes have a far away look to them. "It was nearly a lifetime ago when I met your baasan, Kosshi. Fugaku brought her home, actually." She giggles. "He made a new friend you see, and they were on the same team. I had to persuade him to introduce us."

"So that's what happened." It doesn't explain anything that might've happened later, but the thought that Chichi walking home with Kosshi-baasan is strange enough by itself. "How were they friends?" There's not much alike about them at all really, and yet, Chichi had kept pictures of her and Kouga-jisan for over twenty years.

"I couldn't tell you, Hana-chan. I can only tell you that Kosshi was much stronger than practically everyone we knew." She starts cleaning the other tea leaves off the counter as well. "We were the best of friends." She sets another pot on the counter and sighs deeply. "That's why it was such a big deal when her baby sister eloped with a boy nearly three years older than her at only sixteen."

Seeing it from that perspective, it did seem rather unconventional. "They were very happy with each other." _They were always happy with each other. They stood together through everything._

"It was still quite a scare." Mikoto-san sets the last pot of tea on the counter. "The clan elders were about to disown Tsume-chan. I'm afraid I exchanged some very heated words with your father."

"And Kiho-baachan overheard." That sounds like a long time to carry a grudge. _Oh, but who am I kidding? She's the Vicious Hag to Sensei's Waste of Space, and Sensei is the Emperor of Grudge Holding, so Kiho-baachan must be at least the Empress. They chose each other to live with, despite the many, many people that they could have married._

"I meant to hurt him." Mikoto-san admits. "I was so angry at how easily he jeopardized everything-Kosshi's hold over the clan, Tsume's place in it, everything was crashing down, and he was at the center of it all."

"I'm sure he forgives you." There's a sense of guilt in the air. It must be a topic close to her heart for her to have carried it for twelve long years. "Tou-san is a very forgiving man."

"He was." She brightens as she puts the tea leaves away in a cupboard. "Now, let's talk of happier topics shall we? What's the funniest thing that's happened to you this week?"

I think back. "I judged a race for a scarecrow and a green beast?" And then Kakashi had scolded me and made food...he made food. For the two of us. He's never done that before. _And if food is home, was he trying to tell me that I could call him home?_ The thought warms me a little more. _He's so frustrating when I'm talking to him that most of the time I don't notice all of his little gestures._

 _I will have to thank him._

"Oh?" Mikoto-san leans forward. "You look rather happy and frustrated at the same time, Hana-chan." She taps her chin with a finger as she moves around the kitchen. "Now, I know the green beast must be Maito Gai-kun, but he inspires horror in girls your age...that leaves..." She smiles brightly at me. "The scarecrow, which must be Hatake Kakashi-kun."

"He's a better cook and he's prettier than me." I moan. "It isn't fair that he's a prodigy, and he's a cooking genius, and he's pretty." My hands have gotten more agitated as I continue speaking. "And he's irritating and late but no one ever cares, and he reads porn in public and never identifies the right way to understand flowers and he's going to get himself killed before he turns twenty five and-" I bury my face in my hand. "And I don't want that to happen."

"Hmmm." Mikoto-san pauses to think about it. "I can teach you to be a better cook than him, and then perhaps he'd stay alive to eat your food." _That's a more hopeful thought than anything I've heard about Kakashi in a long time._

"You aren't going to ask if I have a crush on him?" This is the first time that someone's listened to me rant about Kakashi and didn't come up with the idea that I might just be crushing on him. Although...now that I think about it, it's only ever been Inoichi-san who thinks that I have a little girl crush on Hatake Kakashi.

"It's clear that you don't." Mikoto-san flips her hair over her shoulder. "I've been a girl, and that's not what I see in you. You care a great deal about him. It's not a superficial feeling, which excludes it from being a crush, but neither is it romantic love." She shrugs. "You've been speaking to Yamanaka Inoichi, haven't you?"

"How did you know?" It's almost like she's lifted the thought straight from my mind.

Mikoto-san giggles, the sound clear and sweet. "He's always reading too much into things, always seeing romances everywhere. He's been like that ever since he was a little boy."

"I'll take you up on the cooking lessons." I slide off my chair and join her at the sink. "Kaa-san can't cook _anything._ She burnt cake made from cake mix with instructions once." I confess as I watch Mikoto-san wash radishes.

"That sounds so much like Tsume-chan." She covers her smile with a sleeve. "Don't worry. I don't burn cake, even when I don't use cake mix."

The thought of prim and proper Mikoto-san using something as mundane as cake mix to make her desserts is so funny that I have to laugh.

* * *

 **A.N.** Something's up about Danzo, Uchiha Izumi reappears, Kiba is a bouncing 'grown up', Fugaku is himself, which is surprisingly more forgiving than everyone gives him credit for, and Mikoto-san is a human being.

Also, Song Rec: Dessa's 551 is seriously awesome. Anything by Dessa is great.

Thank you so much to AnimeFreak71777 (:P), worldtravellingfly (Kakashi is according to the anime, a good cook, so I took the idea and ran with it.), Sazaleli (I'm taking chem too! I dislike it a great deal.), CannabalisticApple (It was interesting, especially since there's a rather large fact Hana has no idea about regarding Danzo.), Roselyn Fey (Well, she's talking to him about something that she wants, but can't get easily. It's not the same thing as showing off how she can explode things in front of him.), WhiteFang001 (The Explosion Release won't come easily. It's been hard for her before, it's going to continue being difficult just because it can. That and she doesn't have anyone to teach her about it.), CasJeanne (Hana is on occasion, stupid.), Wingalzk (Well, she's not fighting with him exactly, at least, that's how she justifies it. It is fairly idiot-like though.), Shy911, Yuki Suou (Oh yes. Dei-kun is adorable.), OddShadow (Kakashi is...well, he's something right now.), LittleMissSugarLess, hasan9206 (Yep! It's going to be a wild ride.), Cooked Ghost (Well, I mean, technically, the spiders still explode, but yeah, our favorite little explosive expert didn't entirely think his plan through...like tell Hana, hey, Leafy, those have things in them.), Zeru'Xil, (I feel like he might've, but whatever he's feeling during this exchange, it's not guilt.), Sis (Oh gosh, you know so much random plot already...), and 2 (Kakunodate is the capital of fire country so this is an arc about civilian nobility and the capital, and as for Kakashi...well his POV is always difficult, but there are several more in planning for Ashen.) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	56. Kakunodate Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I begin to believe that Danzo had in fact, lied to me about speaking to the Hokage. Nothing has happened for a week and a half...until the Hokage's meeting with the clan heads during the very last weekend of May at noon. I'm loathed to say anything about Danzo though, because I've already poked the sleeping bear with a stick, and if I nettle him again he might actually eat me.

 _I have no desire to make Shimura Danzo my enemy yet. I may wish to bring him down for hurting people, but I can't just walk up to him and declare that I'm going to make sure that he serves jail time someday._

I've returned to the meetings despite the fact that most of them are on less than interesting topics like tax reform and negotiating mission rates. It's a good thing that I do, because at the very end of this meeting, the Hokage turns to Kaa-san. "I hear that Heiress Inuzuka has volunteered for a diplomatic mission to Kakunodate for the month of June."

And I'm suddenly breathless because I realize a very important fact: _I haven't told Kaa-san anything about this. Not at all._ And I am mortified. _How could I have made such an elementary mistake? Kaa-san doesn't read minds._

"Yes, Hokage-sama. I did." I find just enough voice to finish my statement because if I don't then either Kaa-san or I will embarrass ourselves horribly in front of the rest of Konoha's clan heads, and that is simply unacceptable. Even if it feels like I'm teetering on the edge of a cliff, I have to keep moving forward. "Until today, I was uncertain whether or not my proposal would accepted or rejected."

The Hokage puffs slightly on his pipe.

"I'm still not sure that my proposed mission has been accepted to be perfectly honest." I don't think he's bringing the idea up, just to shoot it down, but I have no idea what's going on inside his head.

Kaa-san's hand lands on my knee from under the table. 'Explanation?' She taps in Konoha Standard. I can feel her curiosity and irritation bleeding into the tapping though. _I'm so sorry Kaa-san. I should have told you._

'Ninth District. Change." I tap back, because there's no set of taps for reform, only change.

"Objection." Hyuga Hiashi leans forwards. "We have heard nothing about this mission proposal, but-" He glances around the room. "I can only assume that it's diplomacy. I must add that Heiress Inuzuka knows nothing about diplomacy in the slightest."

 _Why you-_ And Koma-senpai's face comes back to haunt me. _You're right. I have no diplomacy when it comes to people who enslave their family members for no reason._ "I don't think, Hyuga-sama." I murmur. "That you can speak for the matter of diplomacy. Few men can claim that their actions were cause for war." And I hit him just as low as he hits me.

He'd killed the head ninja of Kumo to protect Hinata, and the third war had very nearly flared up yet again. _Speak for yourself, Hyuga Hiashi. Speak. For. Yourself._

"A student of recent history." The Sandaime observes, but absolutely nothing changes in his expression. "Would that all of our youth be so diligent." And his face is now wreathed with smoke. "It has been decided that Heiress Inuzuka has a month to complete her goal." He passes me a scroll. "If not, her punishment will be proportional to the damage that she wreaks."

I take it but I do not open it. _So it's all or nothing then._ The way he'd said goal, bothered me slightly. "My goal in Kakunodate is to bring the lawbreaking of the Civilian Council to the Daimyo's attention, Hokage-sama. Nothing more." I want it on record. I want to minimize risk. "It is my hope that this will alleviate the situation within the ninth district, but I can say nothing as to how much the situation improves or how long it will take after the process begins."

And then I open the scroll, and scan it quickly. It is a contract, a diplomatic contract, the first I've ever seen. At the very end, I see the portion of the contract that must've been added by Danzo himself. _So that's what he's banking on._

 _He thinks I'm going to fail._ I straighten my shoulders and take a deep breath. _I'll not fail._ "If I should not succeed my goal to convince the Daimyo of the Civilian Council's wrongdoings with my own voice in his presence within a month from the time I arrive in Kakunodate," I read, very clearly. "Then I shall forfeit my position in the military police, and Elder Shimura will take charge of my education as a diplomat." My throat constricts. I raise my gaze from the page to the Hokage who sits calmly puffing on his pipe. "Why is this a clause in a legal document, Hokage-sama?" _Shimura Danzo, you are the devil._

 _What do you want from me?_

"You were so eager to enter the world of diplomacy." Danzo drums his fingers on the table in a steady rhythm. "It would be such a loss for Konoha were I to let those talents go to waste." _No. You want me for something else. It cannot possibly be that you want me so that you may teach me diplomacy._

 _What's going on in ROOT? Have you found out what Cousin Gaku's doing?_

"Objection!" Chichi stands up so quickly that his chair falls over. "I believe Inuzuka Hana is employed by the Military Police. Elder Shimura, you have no authority to transfer her." There's an edge of something in Chichi's eyes that reads too much like fear for me to be comfortable. _But Chichi does not fear anything._

"Oh for heaven's sake, sit down, Fugaku." Elder Homura mutters. "It's only a contract, and Heiress Inuzuka is only a ten year old chunin. There's no need to get territorial. She'll still be around to draw you flowers even if Danzo apprentices her."

Kaa-san's teeth draw back into a snarl. "This is my daughter you're talking about, Elder Homura. Be very careful when you say only."

"Heiress Inuzuka would benefit greatly from being tutored by an Elder. Few ever get the privilege." _I would like to stay away far far away from that privilege._ Elder Utatane turns her head towards Kaa-san. "I do hope we realize how great a benefit your daughter would be receiving even if she doesn't succeed."

"There's no need to debate this." I say, in an attempt to gently diffuse the situation. "I will succeed, and thus, there will be no need to trouble Elder Shimura much further." _Is greed his flaw?_ _He takes what he wants, but he's smart enough to disguise it._

I return to the thought of Koma-senpai. _Greed is his flaw. I will find a way to use it against him. I must._

I rise and bow towards the Hokage, the scroll held in the proper position above my head. "It's mentioned that I may request one person to travel to the capital with me, from among your ANBU guard simply as a measure of security." _This is probably Danzo's attempt to monitor me, and make sure that I completely fail the mission._

"You may." The Sandaime picks his pipe up from off the table. "As long as they are in the village." _If I choose someone now, and leave a few days later, then I will find that that they were vitally important to some mission or other._

 _Danzo has that power. Now which one of the ANBU Black Ops is too high profile to replace before the day after tomorrow?_

I pause and take a deep breath, because neither Kaa-san nor Chichi would likely find my choice any good at all. _Still, now after Koma-senpai's injuries, there's only one person I trust in ANBU._ "For this mission, I would like to request ANBU Hound, Hokage-sama."

From behind me, I hear Kaa-san's teeth grind. _No. This is no good at all._ But she says nothing as of yet. There will be a conversation when we're back inside our house, but that is not right now, and I can worry only about this moment.

If I allow Danzo to assign some ROOT agent to this mission then I would fail, because clearly he wants me for something, and I cannot afford to fail and find out. But it is hard not to notice that it's not specifically ROOT that he wants me for.

If it were ROOT then he would have recruited me in a less public way than an announcement in a contract in front of every major clan head in Konoha. Yet, if it isn't ROOT then I have no idea _what_ he wants. I only know that I want to get nowhere near it.

"Hmm." The Hokage turns towards the rafters. "Hound."

ANBU Hound appears from somewhere right behind the Sandaime's shoulder. _Kakashi was here the entire time?_

"Would you be willing to escort Heiress Inuzuka to Kakunodate on..." The Hokage turns towards me. "When are you leaving?"

"The day after tomorrow." Even if I'm in a hurry, I still have to give me enough time to pack. I've asked specifically for ANBU Hound in front of multiple witnesses. With any luck, there'd be a formal agreement right now, and Danzo will be unable to switch Kakashi with someone else. "The day after tomorrow, in the morning at seven."

I'd be going in blind. In an ideal world, I'd have time to visit the Archives and read about every aspect of the Chrysanthemum Court, but Danzo's forced the issue. _I really ought not to have assumed that he wouldn't be cruel simply because I made a good argument._

"No." Hound replies. _Wait. What? Kakashi won't help me? Why?_ I don't have the time to feel betrayed.His hand moves towards the porcelain mask, and he takes it off. It is a breach in protocol-ANBU agents do not take off their masks in front of other people. _But Kakashi's broken that rule before._ "Hatake Kakashi is more than willing to accompany Inuzuka Hana on her mission to Kakunodate though."

I do not know why he is making the distinction. I only know that it means something to him, that for him being ANBU Hound and being Hatake Kakashi are two distinct things. I do not know why he's unmasked himself. Sure, the spiky silver hair behind his porcelain mask means that everyone knows exactly who he is even with the mask, but the rules are rules. _And Kakashi has broken the rules many times in my presence before, but this may be the first time that it is so flagrant. And it is for something that I am asking of him._

The Sandaime sighs. "Permission granted for ANBU Hound and Hatake Kakashi to accompany Heiress Inuzuka for the duration of her mission to Kakunodate." _So, the Hokage also sees a difference between ANBU Hound and Hatake Kakashi, but he's chosen to assign them both._

Kakashi slips his mask back on, bows once to the Hokage, and once to each elder on the Hokage's Council, and comes to stand behind me. Kaa-san stiffens. Down the table, Chichi's glare bores a hole in the opposite wall.

Inoichi-san is frowning worriedly. Shikaku-san just looks asleep. Chouza-san looks like he dearly wishes to be elsewhere. Hyuga Hiashi is glaring at the wall behind Chichi.

Danzo has no expression whatsoever. _There is a clear divide here, but no one looks happy._

I stand and bow once towards the Sandaime. "Thank you for granting my request, Hokage-sama." And then I bow once towards Shimura Danzo, every voice in my head shrieking that I ought not keep nettling him. Still, I can't quite stop myself. "Thank you for your most valuable offer to apprentice me, Elder Shimura." _It is my fondest hope that I come nowhere near that._

"We have no more affairs for the day." The Hokage announces. "Meeting adjourned." We rise and file out.

* * *

"Hana!" Kaa-san calls as I attempt to slip down the hall. Avoiding her does absolutely no good, but I don't want to face her. I can't imagine what this meeting must have felt like to her.

I am her eldest child, but I'm only ten, and I am the only daughter she'll ever have. And today it suddenly became very clear that I'm doing something that involves politics and caught the eye of an Elder who is clearly a pillar of the Tower. I can't imagine how tense she has to be.

I turn around. "Kaa-san?" Whatever other words I want to say stick somewhere in my throat.

"When did you meet Elder Shimura?" She flops bonelessly into a chair. "And just what have you been doing recently?"

"At the Winter Festival, the Elders commented about my new status as Heiress." I reply, and move over to the sink to boil water for tea. "And I've been researching the ways that the Civilian Council's breaking the laws recently in my free time." This is not a lie per say. I'm just not talking about everything else that I've been doing. I don't think she would take well to several of the hobbies I've picked up. "It's why I wanted to visit Kakunodate to begin with, Kaa-san. Only the Daimyo can reign in the Civilian Clans."

Kaa-san's looking at me with tired eyes, as if she's never seen me before. "I'm a terrible mother." She buries her face in her hand, and I abandon the teacups to come and stand beside her.

"You shouldn't say that." _You can't._ "You're my Kaa-san."

"I don't even know your hobbies, Hana." She sighs deeply, shoulders shaking. _Is Kaa-san...crying? What's going on?_ "Fugaku, the stone man, understands you more than I do!"

And the guilt I feel is crippling. "You're Kaa-san." I say again, and kneel down beside her chair. "And no one knows me better than you." Kaa-san was the first person I met in this strange new world. She was the first person I trusted to have only my welfare in mind. "No one loves me more than you do." I pull her hands away from her face, her mascara stains her hands and her cheeks.

 _I made Kaa-san cry. I'm the worse sort of daughter._ "It's my fault for not telling you."

She pulls me in for a hug that squishes the air from my lungs. "You're growing up so fast." She whispers to my hair. "Just yesterday, you were rolling around in the yard with the Haimaru Triplets, and today I hear that Elder Shimura is so impressed with you that he wants you as his apprentice, and you'll be going away again so soon."

I wrap my arms around her too. "I'm always going to be Hana." I whisper. "I'm always going to be your daughter."

She laughs wetly. "I know." She tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "You're just gaining new interests. I can't expect to keep you a child forever." The irony is not lost on me. _Oh, Kaa-san. I was never entirely a child at all._

Something she said catches my attention as I have more time to think-the way she spoke about Shimura Danzo. "Kaa-san? What's your opinion on Elder Shimura?"

"Elder Shimura is a boring old stiff." Kaa-san mutters. "But no one can ever say that he isn't thinking of Konoha or that he doesn't give a hundred and ten percent effort to everything he does."

The way she says this bothers me, but I suppose that Kaa-san is too busy to listen to the rumor mill like Inoichi-san, and she knows of no children who'd been taken by Shimura Danzo. Only Cousin Gaku had been pulled into Danzo's influence among our clan members, and even now, I have no idea where he is. Kaa-san's opinion of Danzo is bored but positive.

And I can't exactly tell her why it ought not be so, because her temper runs to fiery heights. _If Kaa-san knew...then she'd try to tear him down directly._ If it came down to a political fight between Kaa-san and Danzo, she'd lose, and there's only one outcome for people that play games with Danzo and lose.

I cannot bury Kaa-san. I wouldn't survive the experience.

"Enough about Elder Shimura, Little Nose." Kaa-san lets go of me, just as the kettle begins to whistle, and pulls it off of the stove in a lackadaisical manner. "I'm more concerned that you're going to spend an entire month in the capital with just Hatake Kakashi for company." And then she pours us both tea.

I frown. "Kaa-san, why do you disapprove of Kakashi so much?" Every time he's mentioned, Kaa-san's temper gets shorter than normal. And Kaa-san isn't normally overprotective of me about the friends I make. She didn't even get angry when Chichi wanted to informally adopt me.

Her understanding heart runs just as deep as her temper, so it makes no sense that her reactions to Kakashi are so fundamentally _weird._ She'd get mad at him for existing, but she'd be resigned that I keep interacting with him.

Flopping back and forth about her opinions isn't like her.

"You seem to understand so much with so little said that I forget you don't know everything sometimes." Kaa-san runs a hand through her messy hair and walks over to the smaller shrine she keeps for Tou-san. "This is my team picture."

And there's Kaa-san, much younger, scowling at the camera between two bored looking and exactly identical Hyuga boys...and a kindly silver haired man with a soft smile. "My sensei, was Hatake Sakumo, Kakashi's Otou-san." She looks away. "I was on a long term mission in Kiri when Sensei came back from _that_ mission. I didn't get back in time for his funeral."

Oh. _Oh. Kami. Kaa-san's entire team is gone, except her._ The parallels that I'd attempted to draw for Kakashi the other day didn't seem adequate now. Her losses are frighteningly many. _Otou-san. Okaa-san. Neesan. Husband. Sensei. Teammates._ "But that doesn't explain why you-"

"I returned to a spiteful seven year old kicking his father's gravestone." Kaa-san takes the picture back from me. "I've never understood which one was the real Hatake Kakashi-the one who scanned your face worriedly for four hours in your hospital room, hanging onto every breath you took, or the one who muttered curses at his father's grave at how stupid and senseless Sensei was."

And I don't quite know what to say. "Kakashi loves his Otou-san very much." I say at last. "I'm sure his actions then were just part of his grief cycle." The five stages of grief, Kaa-san had encountered Kakashi during the angry phase. But I cannot imagine what it was like for her. _How difficult was that scene to see?_

"Maybe." Kaa-san returns the photograph to it's place in the drawer. "There are plenty of other objections that I have, but perhaps you know him better than I do." She ruffles my hair. "I'll let you make your own decisions, Little Nose."

 _But you'll fret over them anyway, because that's what mothers do._

* * *

"Oh, Hana-hime." Kosha holds up my furisode. "You should have told us that you'll need more formal clothes!"

I stick my tongue out at her. Despite my misgivings about the high stakes of this mission, my cousin's enthusiasm is infectious. "I didn't know until yesterday!"

Kotsu rummages about in her closet. "It's no good, we don't have any time to make you more clothes. You'll have to take that one, and then we'll have to buy you some more generic ones."

Kihaku sighs. "It's a pain that we won't be able to help you pick out a few more kimono in Kakunodate. I predict that Hatake will know absolutely nothing about women's fashion."

Kosha giggles. "He knows nothing about men's fashion either, based on what he wore for New Year's."

"Oh hush you two." I poke them both. "I'm good at picking out my clothes!"

Kotsu casts an unimpressed look at my black scoop necked shirt and tan shorts. "I don't think so. You're not going to show up in the Daimyo's palace in _that._ "

I bristle, but there's no time to respond.

"Might I borrow Hana-chan for a moment, girls?" The bored drawl can only belong to one person. And the undercurrent of displeasure is something that I don't entirely want to think about.

Nevertheless, I turn around. "Sensei?"

And there he is, leaning against my door frame, unaided, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. "Mind if we stepped out to Mufu-an?" His head tilts in the direction of the outside world.

"Of course not, Sensei." I disentangle myself from my cousins and the various kimono that they'd spread out over the floor with a sense of dread. "How is Ita-kun?" Sensei doesn't respond.

* * *

We walk down the street side by side, but Sensei's silent. In the dead quiet between us, I realize that I don't really know what Sensei's thinking, except whatever it is, it isn't happy. His mouth is a thin line of displeasure, and his eyes could light candles at twenty paces with the fire that they're spitting.

When we step into Mufu-an, his unhappiness smooths away, leaving only his business face behind. "Kasa-chan, a private room in the back." He slides a 50 ryo note over the counter towards the young waitress and she nods.

"Come right this way, Ensui-san." And she turns and walks us over, her long braid swinging.

She shows us to a quiet room. "Rose tea, Ensui-san?"

Sensei nods distractedly, and she withdraws.

It's only after our tea's been served that Sensei finally turns to me. "Care to explain all the pots you've stuck your fingers into recently, Hana-chan?"

I swallow the hot liquid too quickly, and my choking does nothing to stop Sensei's scowl, but he does pat my back reassuringly. "I-Sensei."

"Why don't you tell me why exactly Danzo wants you to become his apprentice?" Sensei's voice is deceptively light and sugary. "And of course, an explanation of the Uchiwa on your shirts nowadays would be wonderful as well, and your current social justice project might be nice too."

"It seems that you've heard it all already, Sensei." I mumble. _For someone who's supposedly an invalid, Sensei, you sure do get angry easily. That's bad for you, please, please stop being angry._

"Yes." Sensei blows over the top of his teacup. "I had to hear this through various stories from Itachi-kun and Suzaku."

I wince. "I'm sorry, Sensei."

He gazes at me, something dark moving in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to worry you." I feel each word dragged from my lips like a barb. When put out in the sunlight, it's such a terrible thing to say to him. _Sensei's proud, and he'll take it wrong._

And his face is ugly. "So you find me weak now? Is that it?"

The thought horrifies me. "NO!" I step over the low tea table so that I'm standing next to him. "I've never found you weak, Sensei." I don't know how to explain. I don't know how to tell him exactly how I feel. _How could you say something like that Sensei?_

But I know exactly why he thinks this way: I've given him the space to think it in my silence. "No." I whisper. "You were never weak."

His shadow rises from the surface of the floor, and it hangs in between us. "That's cute little girl, but you don't mean that." It speaks with Sensei's voice, but it's not like Sensei at all. Sensei's vindictive, and he lives in the dark sometimes, but malice is not Sensei's calling card. The shadow in front of me is smoky, but it's not opaque enough for me to stop seeing Sensei. And I know that his lips didn't move. _What the hell is going on?_

And then his face twists, pain exploding across his features, brighter than fireworks. I dive straight through the dark shape in front me, and Sensei's coughing-hurting and in that moment the only thing I want is to take it away from him. "Sensei? SenSEI!"

His lips quirk up, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "I guess this is what you mean." There's blood trailing from the corner of his mouth, and he wipes it away, and pushes himself up. "Get back where you belong." He's addressing the dark shape in the air before us, as though it was a dog that he could order about.

"You're no fun, Ensui." It murmurs, and its voice is still an echo of Sensei's, but it drops to the floor, just an ordinary shadow once more.

"What was that?" I ask, but I know I won't get answers, not today, not when the bond between us has been rubbed raw from all the secrets I've kept from him. We won't be talking about any secrets he has today.

"Walk back with me." He murmurs. "I won't be able to alone." _And now I know that I really can't involve you._

 _You are most certainly not well, Sensei. What's going on?_

I let him lean on my shoulder, and we make our way slowly out of the tea house and down the street in silence once more. But this time it's more like he's making a concession. _I'll give you the month of June, Hana-chan. When you get back, we will have to talk._

And I am giving him a reply. _We will talk of secrets then, yours and mine._

* * *

The next morning, I wake Kiba early to say goodbye to him. "I'll be back soon, Kiba-chan." I whisper and squeeze him tightly. "Be sure to practice your shuriken throwing while I'm gone, but make even more sure that not a single cat escapes you, alright?"

He nods. "Un. I'll make sure." He kisses me on the cheek, even though most of the time he thinks that kisses are icky. "Will miss Neechan lots. But Kaa-san says that Neechan's going to help lots of people." He tilts his head back, and looks at me with wide earth brown eyes. "Neechan going to be a hero, so I have to wait for Neechan."

I feel tears sting my eyes, but I blink valiantly so that they don't fall. _Otouto. How can I explain how much I love you?_ "Yeah." I ruffle his hair a little longer than normal. "I'm going to help people." I lean down next to his ear. "I'll miss you most, Otouto."

He nods, and lets me pick up my pack. "Gotta go see Sasuke now." He says, blinking furiously. "N Miko-baa 'n Fuga-tou." _Kiba's grown close to Sasuke's family. I suppose they really are his family now._

His charming shortening of Chichi's name brings a smile to my lips. "Fuga-tou?" I ask him.

"Cause not Tou-san, but..." He murmurs so softly that I don't quite catch the rest of his sentence.

And then in an instant, all I hear is the clatter of his feet on the floorboards as he races away.

Kaa-san pats my shoulder as I walk down the hallway. "You'll show them." She murmurs. "You'll show them all the strength of your heart and your conviction."

I feel her words lodge somewhere in my chest, words to guide me home always. "Un." I nod. "I am an Inuzuka, and our strength is in our hearts." And then I step onto the porch where Kakashi's waiting for me. He's surrounded by three rather large and irritated wolf dogs. The Triplets have been keeping watch on him it seems. "Good morning."

He looks up at me with something like mock irritation in his eye. "I was about to sleep in and be late, Hana-chan. But then I remembered that the overeager puppy would leave without me." There's a dark smudge under his eye that speaks of another sleepless night. _Oh, you liar you. You probably didn't sleep at all, Kakashi._

Ichi growls. "You stop that." Ni and San affirm the statement with growls of their own.

Kakashi holds up his hands. "Can't I talk?"

"You really shouldn't." San snarks. "All that comes out of your mouth is drivel."

Ni laughs, doggy chuckles echoing through the early morning streets.

I loop my arm through his and march us swiftly towards the north gate, if only because I don't really trust him to run off and sleep in a tree somewhere just so we could actually be late, and I also don't trust that Ichi's satisfied. Him trying to take a bit out of Kakashi this early in the morning is just setting the day up for failure. "And I am everlastingly grateful that that is not the case, Kakashi." And then I pat Ichi on the head. "Don't worry, Ichi. Kakashi _didn't mean it_. Right?"

I beam up at him, and he blinks slowly, as if stupefied by the course his life has taken. "I didn't mean it." He says very slowly, as if he doesn't entirely believe what he's saying.

"You know," I comment as we leave the gates of Konoha behind us. "You don't have to make such an exaggerated excuse when any normal person would notice that you have bruises under your eyes." I look up at him, and his masked face. "Hiding is bad for the soul." But then again, his mask is literally the physical manifestation of how much he wants to hide from the world.

I really should expect his avoidance by now.

"Don't worry about it, Hana-chan." He isn't singing, which means he's inclined to take this seriously. "We're going on the journey of a lifetime after all!" He eye smiles in my direction, and promptly pulls out a rather obnoxious orange book. "Which really means I should get my reading done before we get to prim and proper land."

"Haven't you finished that at least eight times by now?" Icha Icha is hardly a long book, and he's had it for at least ten months by now. It would make no sense for him not to have completed it at least thrice already. "Why are you still reading it?!"

"Maa...Hana-chan, great literature is to be appreciated eternally you know?" And I know that he's going to be alright. That he's getting better, because that nettling sounds more genuine than his horrible excuse for being on time. "Besides, I'm getting to the climatic scene where Masako-chan is confessing her eternal love to both Enji-kun and Daisuke-kun at the same time while-"

"Stop it!" I shriek and cover my ears. "I don't want to hear it!"

His laughter rings out, rich and deep. _He's been laughing more recently instead of just smiling._

* * *

 **A.N.** In which we get, Danzo is the devil and high stakes betting, a rather large Tsume scene, Ensui is still troubled, and Hana and Kakashi leave on a trip together. It's going to be a fun month at the capital. Kakashi's slow journey towards happiness is gaining momentum.

Also, celebrations! I completed a college application the day before yesterday. It was fabulous.

Thanks so much to PyromaniacBlackWings (I'm so glad that you like Bloodless! We're going to see Deidara soonish. Our favorite terrorist bomber is coming back to this story, I swear!), worldtravellingfly (Yeah, lots of air is cleared, and not cleared, in the case of Nara Ensui in this chapter.), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), EverBear01 (We haven't seen his reaction yet, but we've seen lots of other reactions, none of them good.), hasan9206 (Danzo will not exist in the remotely same ballpark as Fugaku. See Ashen Chapters 1 and 3 for more details.), Snidekick (Hana is going to meet the Daimyo's court exactly as she is. The explosions will be fun.), Cooked Ghost (Well, diplomacy did not entirely work, as Danzo is the devil.), WhiteFang001 (I shall direct you to Ashen, the Bloodless Side Stories for more details.), LadyScatty (Well, Ensui had something similar which he is _not explaining._ Because he is being difficult and hurt about stuff.), Sam (Danzo's thoughts are as opaque as ever.), LittleMissSugarLess (Hope is good. Kakashi needs some more of it in his life.), fernandfeather (Thank you!), Born To Sleep (Danzo will get a POV chapter, The Roots of Old Trees, but it's so full of spoilers that I can't post it right now.), libraryrockerr (Danzo is not useful. Danzo is Danzo.), 6jayc6 (Shipping is a bit odd at this moment, given that Kakashi is 18~ and Hana is 10. There's a long ways to go before the official ship of Bloodless is announced.), and Puppet Dragon (It's alright, I just moderated that one so it didn't show up.) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	57. Kakunodate Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

We make camp about twenty paces off of the road to the capital. I unroll my sleeping bag, and proceed to pull out the very small collapsible tent in my pack. "Kakashi?" I ask, almost absently. "Do you have a tent?"

"Hmmm..." He strikes an exaggerated thinking pose. "No."

I feel a vein in my temple twitch. "Where are you sleeping then?" _This isn't the Team Ensui tent, because there's no way in hell that I'm dragging that piece of garbage all the way to the capital and back, but this one...he won't fit in there even if I don't sleep in it._ I examine Kakashi. _Yeah, he's too tall to fit without being a contortionist._

"Maa...don't worry about it, Hana-chan." He picks up several wood pieces and sets about creating a fire.

Ichi scratches himself behind his ear. "He can sleep outside."

"Ichi!" I smack his paw. "That's so rude."

He turns a dark eye towards me. "It's June, Hana." He says this as though speaking to a very slow child. "He won't die if he sleeps outside."

I throw my hands up and start taking the tent down. "No one's sleeping in the tent then. Since no one's going to die by sleeping outside that's where we're all sleeping."

Ni dives across the clearing and scoots himself inside the tent. "I'm sleeping in there." He yips. "I hate sleeping outside!"

San sits down, the most disappointed look I've ever seen on his face. "Ni. You sleep outside the doghouse every night." _They really are normal brothers after all._

Ni whines, but says nothing.

Ichi also scoots inside the tent. "I don't like getting wet, and it might rain at night." _Ichi, you regularly swim in the Naka River..._

San also sedately makes his way in. "I'm not sleeping outside if everyone else is sleeping inside."

I give up regarding the tent. Instead, I turn around to examine Kakashi. He has his back to us, but his shoulders are shaking. _Is he alright?_ I walk around to the other side of the fire. "Kakashi?"

He raises his head, and I can see the laughter in his eye. "Yes?"

"What's so funny?" I ask as I sit down.

He starts dumping already chopped vegetables into a cooking pot, and stirs absently as he calmly flips through Icha Icha. "Your Triplets are really something."

I make a face at him. "We make more sense than your ninken anyway." I feed a few more branches to the flames. "They seem to think that Ichi, Ni, and San are somehow not good names."

Kakashi ladles some of the soup out and tastes it. "Needs salt." He mutters and rummages around in his pack, before turning back to me. "And you're saying that they're good names? Ichi, Ni, and San?"

"You named one of your ninken Bisuke. Biscuit. I don't think you have space to talk."

He flicks a piece of raw cabbage at me. "Go be judgmental somewhere else, Hana-chan."

* * *

We sit together on opposite sides of the fire after eating. It's time that I address the question that's been bothering me ever since his rather unconventional volunteering strategy to be my mission partner. "Kakashi?"

"Hmm...?" He doesn't really raise his head from his book, but at least he's listening.

"Why didn't ANBU Hound want to come on this mission?" He clearly considers them separate entities, and thus I want to ask the correct question. _ANBU Hound didn't want to come, but Hatake Kakashi did._

"Because ANBU Hound is not your friend." _What does that even mean?_ He flips to the next page, and stares at it for a moment before he sets the book down. "You don't get it do you?"

"You're right." I toss another stick into the flames and watch as it's eaten in a series of cracks and pops. "I have no idea what you mean."

"ANBU Hound doesn't have any friends." He says very clearly and distinctly. "Because ANBU don't have friends." _Oh. Well that's...that's really sad._

"But you've acted like my friend when you were wearing the mask before." He'd taken the mask off to glare at me the day that Tobi had attacked us. He'd stayed in the hospital, probably a direct violation of his orders, and definitely a violation of his personal likes and dislikes.

"Hound was lost." Is all he says about the subject. "Kakashi wasn't."

 _Oh. I suppose I'll leave him be. He doesn't want to talk about it._ "Thank you." _The least I can do is thank him._ And then I walk around so that I can peer over his shoulder. "So what's the plan for tomorrow?"

He looks at me with one raised eyebrow and a very slight smile. "Isn't this mission your affair?"

"I wouldn't mind suggestions." I cross my arms. "Besides, I'm trying to figure out how I should introduce you to the Daimyo." _Ah, yes. Kageyoshi-sama this is..._ I could just picture turning to Kakashi, who had to still be reading Icha Icha, and just not finding any words to say. _This is the famous Sharingan no Kakashi. He's really fearsome and an S-Ranked shinobi from Konoha except when he's reading porn._

He flips another page. "You're Heiress Inuzuka and I'm your long suffering body guard."

"I don't need a-" His self satisfied expression is too much. "Oh I give up." I dive back into the tent to retrieve my sleeping bag. "I'm going to sleep now." I announce. "Have fun being a _bodyguard._ " _Who is he trying to kid? I don't need a-but I suppose if we're going to court we have to act the proper parts._

 _I'm Heiress Inuzuka...and he's Sharingan no Kakashi my...'bodyguard.'_

* * *

We arrive inside of Kakunodate at about noon the next day. "Wow." I whisper as we make our way through the paved streets. It's a whole other world here, here in the capital where everything is vivid and bright, and simply filled with people.

It looks busier than the Winter Festival, or Bon, and I'm not sure how everything even fits in all the crowded streets. "Jewelry! High Class jewelry!" "Silk Scarves!" "Hot Beef Udon!" The noise of it is truly incredible. The Triplets want to play, but I make sure to keep an eye on them. This bright and colorful city is not Konoha. We knew every short cut to our usual haunts back at home, but if I lost them here, it would be difficult to find them again.

"Someone's been living at the bottom of a well." It's an idiomatic reference to the frog who never saw the outside world, and I don't take kindly to it. Who likes to be compared to an ignorant frog?

I frown up at Kakashi. "Konoha's not the bottom of a well."

"You look like you've never seen a market place before." He corrects rather gently. "This is quite common in the capital. Please close your mouth so the flies don't get in."

And yes, perhaps I'm acting like a bumpkin, but Konoha is rarely so festive, or so exciting. "Just because it's common here-" He suddenly yanks me towards the side of the street.

The various people all around us dive for cover as the thunder of hooves clatters towards us. A young man on a huge black horse flies through the market square. I see him coming in slow motion. "NI!" My stupidly adorable partner is still in the middle of the road, directly in the path of the horse. I slip from Kakashi's grasp and dive straight for him. _I'm a shinobi. I can get out of the way in time._

We end up on the opposite side of the road a moment before the young man pulls the horse to a halt. "What did you think you were doing, girl?"

I turn around to face him. "I was making sure that my partner didn't get trampled by you." From beyond the huge black horse, I see Kakashi with his sharingan eye uncovered, hands in some sort of seal that I can't see clearly. _I suppose if I didn't make it across the road in time and was about to get trampled he would have done something about it._ None of that does anything to stop the irritation I feel for the young man in front of me though. "And why were you being so irresponsible anyway? You could have trampled someone!" _Not to mention, if you actually trampled someone I'm fairly certain that's a punishable offense._

He tilts his head to the side, a scowl on his face, and I notice for the first time, the remarkable resemblance he bears to Asahano-they have the same high cheekbones, long faces, and pointed chins-but their eyes are not the same. Even though Asahano had been rude, there'd been an amused light in his cat green eyes. This young man had eyes that are almost black, and they look like they are storming. _The tip of his high tail is dyed green._ "I don't like your tone." Perhaps that's supposed to sound threatening, but at the moment, all he sounds like is a royal brat.

"Well-" I begin, but I'm cut off.

Kakashi slaps a hand over my mouth and squeezes my shoulder once. I can almost hear him telling me not to dig us deeper. "My apologies, sir." Kakashi eye smiles, his sharingan firmly out of sight once more. "My lady and I meant no offense whatsoever." _My-oh right. We're being Heiress Inuzuka and the long suffering body guard._

And then we disappear into the crowd before the rather arrogant and self destructive noble _brat_ can say much of anything more.

"Why were you stuck in the middle of the road, Ni?" I ask, since Ni's the one that started this whole thing, as we head towards the palace complex. _He's a ninken. He's been in the middle of combat situations before. Why was he stuck in the middle of the road?_

"Yes." Kakashi muses. "Why were you stuck in the middle of the road?"

Ni has the good grace to look abashed despite no word from either of his brothers. "There was yakitori in the road." He mutters. "I couldn't get it off the skewer."

"Really." I say, and I feel my eyebrow twitch. "This is fascinating, Ni. Tell me more about how I nearly died because you wanted to eat someone's dropped yakitori." _I nearly got trampled by a horse because you were a glutton? Oh, honestly, this is too much._

"You wouldn't have died." Ni protests, and looks so betrayed that it's hard not to laugh. "But I didn't get to eat any yakitori."

I whack him once sharply on the nose. "Next time, just ask me and I'll buy you some food. There's no need to be such a glutton that you nearly get trampled to eat some dropped food."

The Triplets mutter among themselves as Kakashi and I walk onward towards the palace complex, but I pay them little attention. _I can't believe that we were in such an odd situation just because Ni wanted to eat food._

"Ne, Hana-chan." Kakashi comments, his nose still in his open orange book. "You should watch your words more carefully. I'm not sure who it was that we offended today."

"Does it matter?" I ask. "I was right. He shouldn't have been that irresponsible as to go charging about on a horse in such a crowded place. He looked a few years older than even you. A grown man should know better than to put lives in danger needlessly."

He sighs, but we've arrived at the gates of the palace, and there's no time to say anything more.

"Papers? And state your business." The gate guard steps forwards, a hand outstretched.

"Heiress Inuzuka." Kakashi announces. "And her bodyguard, Hatake Kakashi, here are the Hokage's behest to request audience with Kageyoshi-sama."

"Your residence is in the Orchid Pavilion." The guard glances down. "Hiruhitzen-oji has specifically requested the honor of hosting you, Inuzuka-sama." _What? Kageyoshi Hiruhitzen?_

The Daimyo has six sons, each one named titled after a specific flower. The Daimyo himself takes the chrysanthemum as his flower. The Orchid Prince, Hiruhitzen-oji...is the second son. I just have no idea why he'd be my host. Nevertheless, I bow politely to the gate guard. "My thanks to Hiruhitzen-oji."

Kakashi and I are shown to rooms by a servant girl who moves far more gracefully than I can accomplish on a good day, and then left to ourselves.

* * *

I'd been pacing our rooms for about half an hour, and they are very nice rooms, there are four of them-two bedrooms, a sitting room, and a book room. There are even three doggy beds for each of the Triplets. We've also been given a smallish courtyard who's small garden is simply a profusion of orchids, but still, it so different from Konoha that I'm about to pull my hair out, before Kakashi speaks. "Who's rooms are we in?"

"The Orchid Prince's." I respond, while still trying to figure out why Hiruhitzen-oji would bother with me to begin with. Kakashi looks...still confused so I elaborate. "Each of the six princes have a flower title that's been bestowed by the Daimyo."

"I suppose the Orchid Prince is an important figure then." Kakashi gestures about. "He's given us nice rooms at any rate. Shinobi aren't generally given such spacious living quarters in court." Not to mention, most people didn't have four rooms and a courtyard to give to random strangers.

"The Orchid Prince is Kageyoshi-sama's favorite child, and his second son." I hadn't read much about the current dynamics of the Royal Family, but at least I know all the titles of the princes if nothing else about them. "The Crown Prince is the Magnolia Prince. The third prince is the Laurel Prince. The fourth prince is the Lotus Prince. The fifth is Iris. The sixth is Hibiscus."

"You did reading." Kakashi flops back on the couch inside the study room.

"Not really." I shrug. "I don't know anything about them. I only know their flower titles because I was interested in history as a child, and because Kiho-baachan loves flowers."

"When did you meet a prince?" He's being quite casual, but everything about his body language screams tension. That, and his eye smile is a hundred percent plastic. _Oh, what's made you upset now, idiot scarecrow?_

There's nothing casual about this line of questioning. "I have no idea." I snark back, arms crossed over my chest. "I haven't met a single one of them before. Maybe he's just trying to be a dutiful son."

Still, this line of conversation gets us nowhere. And there's still no chance at an audience with the Daimyo. He's accepted us into the palace, but that's about it. It's a form of politeness nothing more, kind of like, yes, I will be a good host, but I don't want to see you please stay in this corner. I get the feeling that we'd have to impress his favorite child before we'd get the chance to see him.

It would be really great if I knew who to impress though.

* * *

A servant girl brings us dinner that night. "Inuzuka-sama? Your food is here." Her black hair is tied back, and as she sets out the food,-six dishes, two bowls of rice, two sets of chopsticks-she takes care that the sleeves of her pale green yukata don't brush any of the dishes. After she's done with the human food, she takes out three rather small bags. _Food for the Triplets._

 _The Orchid Prince knows that I have three dogs. How odd._

"Where did that come from?" Kakashi appears from the other room. He'd fallen asleep on the couch sometime mid afternoon, Icha Icha slipping from his hand onto the floor, long after I'd stopped pacing. I assume that it is largely because he'd spent time being awake last night. Since I didn't really need him for anything, I made sure that the Triplets behaved, and set about practicing my chakra control. It was better to make sure that he got some rest.

She looks up, and blinks. "The royal kitchens, Inuzuka-sama." She's not addressing Kakashi even though he'd been the one to ask the question, her eyes are still fixed on my face and then she bows to me only, as if Kakashi doesn't even exist. _That's...that's so weird. Is it because he's technically also some sort of servant?_ "If this one is excused..."

"Wait?" I'm not used to the formality. "Please just call me Hana, and please don't ignore Kakashi." She doesn't rise, or say much of anything. I try a different tactic. "Could you tell me your name?"

"This one's given name is Ai, Inuzuka-sama." _So no first name basis then, but she's offered absolutely no last name either._

"Ai-san?" I see her fingers twist, but still nothing. It's as if I'm not actually speaking to a person. It's more like I'm speaking to wooden automaton. "Is it possible for you to bring more food for my dogs? I'm afraid they eat a little more than your prince thinks that they do."

I don't bother asking if she would tell me where to find, or even what the Orchid Prince looks like. Knowing how unwilling to volunteer any information she is, I'd get no answer anyway.

"Of course, Inuzuka-sama." And then she turns and leaves.

My right eyebrow rises as Kakashi sits down. "Well, the people here are...nice."

Kakashi shrugs, and pokes at the food with his chopsticks. "This is the capital. Everything is beautiful here." He pokes at the meat most particularly. "And cold." He adds, almost as an afterthought. "And I don't trust any of the food here."

"I doubt the Daimyo wants us poisoned." Yes, there's no telling where the food came from, but there's no way that the Daimyo would be stupid enough to order Hatake Kakashi poisoned. "Besides, the Orchid Prince is hardly going to murder us over food, especially since he's still technically our host. It would reflect badly on him." Kakashi is just...paranoid, as all shinobi are.

Kakashi shrugs. "Logically yes. People are so rarely logical though." But he does pick up a piece of beef and chew on it sparingly. "The food's not bad."

The meal that follows is even more uncomfortable than the one time I'd made breakfast and we'd dissolved into a fight about...well, whether or not Kakashi is a bad luck charm. We've used up all of our normal conversation topics, and neither of us cares to banter in the oppressive atmosphere that screams nobility.

* * *

Breakfast is spent in a similar manner the next morning. Ai brings the food, baked bread, miso soup, grilled fish, rice and green tea. Whomever the our host is, he's clearly has a fondness for traditional foods, which, given that he is a prince, I suppose is expected.

After breakfast, we wander about in the courtyard. There's not much to _do_ honestly, and it's very irritating. There's only so many times one can wander around the gardens and stare at paintings on the walls before it gets really old.

At about mid-morning, I settle down with a sheet of Deidara's notes. _So, I have to find a medium to stick the two different chakra types into...shoving it into the air just gives me ripped nails at best, and blows my hands off at worst._

 _Dei-kun suggests clay, since the chakra in clay is already earth-like._ But I want to try something else. _Would any object do?_

I pick up a small pebble in the garden, and very carefully start pushing Doton chakra towards it.

"Ne, Hana-chan."

I jerk, suddenly startled, and my chakra's vibration speeds up. I reflexively throw the pebble as far away from the two of us as possible. It shatters into dust against the stone wall on the other side of the courtyard. _Oh thank Kami. It wasn't enough chakra to actually literally explode and ruin the flowers._ I get the feeling that Hiruhitzen-oji would not appreciate the loss of his gardens.

"Kakashi!" I whine. "Please stop startling me."

He's picking up Deidara's paper though. "What is this?"

I lunge for it. "Give that back."

He holds it out of my reach. "Tell me what it is, Hana-chan." He's got an eye smile, but it's so fake that I can practically feel the plastic pressed against my skin.

I prepare to take a chakra enhanced leap at the page, but in that exact moment, three large gray blurs pounce on him, one from behind, and one from either side.

"Listen." Ichi growls, as he sits on Kakashi. _Kakashi wouldn't normally get taken down by three dogs. I suppose he doesn't want to hurt them, and they aren't threatening to kill him._

I pull Deidara's notes out from his grip, and quickly fold it really small and shove it down my shirt. Kakashi peels himself off of the ground, as he does so, he spits out a mouthful of earth. "Would you three be any nicer to me?"

San spares him a disdainful glance. "Why would we do that?"

Kakashi's still dusting himself off, when a little boy makes his presence known. "You there!" He marches towards me, when none of us react. "Are you some sort of new servant?"

 _Is he talking about me?_ "No." I lean towards him. He doesn't look that much younger than me, maybe eight or so, but oh boy does he seem offensive. "I don't happen to be a servant."

He puffs up, almost like a baby porcupine. "Do you know who I am?"

Again, I'm not quite sure why he'd be so hung up about this. Perhaps nobles acted like shinobi after all- _I guess we do posturing too, especially on the battlefield._ "No." I reply once more. "I have no idea who you are."

He looks so offended that it's almost funny. "I'm Kageyoshi Hiruka!" He screeches, while stomping his foot. "And Chichi-ue will hear about how you disrespected me!" _So this is the sixth prince. Hibiscus, huh. More like thistle._

And now that's just being too much of a brat. "Do you know who I am, Hiruka-ojichan?" I ask him, very carefully.

"No!" He shrieks. "And I don't care!"

"I'm Heiress Inuzuka." I say, politely, because he's still a little prince, even if he is a brat. He's probably allowed to demand my head on a spike, and while it wouldn't be granted, if he whined loudly enough, I might never get to meet the Daimyo. "I'm Hiruhitzen-oji's guest." _The very absent Hiruhitzen-oji, but I'm still a guest anyway._

Hiruka-oji's mouth clicks shut, but it's not for very long. "Your Ni-Aniue's guest?" He narrows his eyes at me. "I don't believe you! You don't dress like a lady."

I look down at my black shirt and tan shorts. "I'm a shinobi." I say very clearly. "Shinobi ladies don't dress like court ladies."

He stomps towards the other edge of the garden huffily. "I'm taking this to Ni-Aniue. You're an impostor who doesn't belong here."

 _Well, that's the first prince I've insulted. And the first prince I've met. Here's hoping that he brings the Orchid Prince back with him._ There's something vaguely cute about Kageyoshi Hiruka-oji, he's got very pretty hazel eyes and a childish pout, and his little side braids are really adorable, but the brattiness erases most of his adorable features.

"You seem to be in the business of irritating people, Hana-chan." Kakashi observes completely unhelpfully, as Hiruka-oji stomps off. He's got very short legs, and the garden isn't so big, but it takes quite a lot of time for a little prince to stomp his self aggrandized way across.

"I don't like brats." I respond. "Besides, I get along with people in Konoha just fine."

"From what I remember," Kakashi begins in a casual voice that is nothing of not at all casual. "You seem to have a habit of collecting brats, largely, ones that have blond hair, blue eyes and happen to be the Tsuchikage's student."

 _Oh no. We're not discussing this. We are not discussing Dei-kun in the slightest._ "I have no idea what you mean, Kakashi." I muster my fakest smile for just him. He looks a little nonplussed."You must be getting old." _How do you like a taste of your own medicine? Unlike you, Kakashi, I have two functioning eyes to eye smile at irritating people with!_ "I'll have to remind you to put your mask on soon." I pause and consider it. "And by soon, I really mean right now." And it's true that Kakashi isn't wearing a mask. He hasn't been ever since taking it off for dinner last night.

It might be the first time that he's stepped out of a building without a mask on though, because he touches his own face, and looks almost shocked and confused at the idea that he isn't wearing one. _Success! We're not talking about Dei-kun anymore._ Kakashi promptly turns around and goes back inside.

I turn to the Triplets, who are sitting in a very innocent looking line. "No mentions of any of my papers to Kakashi. No mentions of Dei-kun at all."

"Who do you think we are?" Ni wonders.

"We're your best supporters." San responds.

"Why would we ever tell the Irritant anything?" Ichi mutters. "He's the Irritant. We hate him."

At this declaration, I can only frown. _Kakashi's irritating sometimes, but he's hardly morally detestable. Why are they so aggressively upset about him anyway?_

"Well, well, if it isn't Hana- _chan._ " That voice is _familiar_ and completely unexpected.

I turn around.

* * *

 **A.N.** And Hana and Kakashi have so many interactions that it's through the roof. This entire chapter was pretty much entirely snarking back and forth as they make their way into the palace. That and we get an introduction, mildly, to some of the new characters that are really important to this arc.

There are going to be so many more fun times to come!

Thank you so much to OddShadow (Not quite the homunculus from from FMA:B, but that's an interesting image I didn't think of! And Kakashi...well Kakashi is being himself, and not explaining. At all.), Wulfyre (Rest assured. Nara-sensei is not being haunted by Zetsu.), rickrossed, Wingalzk (Yes, Asuma is in the capital. The Triplets are not interested in talking to most humans.), WhiteFang001 (I'm a hopeful Bio Major. Thanks for the good wishes! Yep, Hana's going to be so busy.), LillianAris (Well, KakaHana moments for basically an entire chapter.), Cooked Ghost (Thanks! And yeah, Kakashi has begun his road to recovery, except his journey's slow, sometimes slippery, and not entirely intentional.), wrenotren, LittleMissSugarLess, hasan9206 (And yeah, no romance is occurring until much later.), AnimeFreak71777 (I think it's because of Danzo's proximity and how he ought to be someone the village should trust that makes him scary. Everyone knows not to trust Madara and the other villains. Everyone always thinks that Danzo is a good guy, or at least, a guy that's trying to be good.), morpheusandmus, Yuki Suou (Fugaku is not always entirely logical. Neither are Hana's perceptions of the chain of events.), DuxTell (I always wish for more time to write.), Rei a Wandering Shinigami (Welcome to Bloodless!), bookdragonslayer (Kakashi does know that Tsume was Sakumo's student. It's a part of why their relationship is an awkward one.), fluffpenguin (It doesn't cross Hana's mind that her mother could commit suicide. The two ideas just don't compute.), libraryrockerr (Thank you! and yeah, Danzo is Danzo. Danzo is never useful except to himself.), Born to Sleep (No, the assassination hasn't happened yet. Danzo has gotten very distracted by a side project that no one knows about. And Kakashi has already quite ROOT.), and ladybug002 for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	58. Kakunodate Arc: Five

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"You know, when Kasano-chan said that there was a rude servant girl in my back garden, I didn't think that it was you." That familiar smirk. Those utterly ridiculous cat-green eyes. Long black hair pulled up in a high tail, dyed blue at the tip.

"Asahano-san?" _What's he doing-oh. Oh. Oh Kami-sama no._

He dips forwards in the mockery of a proper bow, all extravagance and pomp. "Kageyoshi Hiruhitzen-oji at your service, my lady."

And for the first time in a very long time, I am completely speechless.

"Would you mind telling me when you met my lady?" Kakashi mutters from behind me, his mask back in place. He's saved me from having to speak. _Oh come on. You're far to into this pretense of lady-bodyguard thing._

"We made our acquaintance at the Civilian Council meeting in Konoha." Asahano-Hiruhitzen...I don't even know who he is anymore, steps forward and takes me by the hand. "Come along now, we've got so much to do and so little time to do it with."

"Who are you?" I know who he is. Sort of. It's not all that clear at the moment. "Why on earth did you ask me to call you Asahano if you're actually Hiruhitzen-oji?" Now that I think about it, the fact that he's the Orchid Prince makes a whole lot of sense. _Who else from the capital would know that I have three partners? Who else have I met from the capital anyway? It wasn't Imube-san._

He turns back to me, a smirk on his lips. "My Haha-ue calls me Asahano." He marches forwards, but the Triplets are in front of him once more.

"Let go of Hana." Ni sniffs the air and frowns. "You smell like the idiot we met yesterday." _Yesterday...yesterday. We met a royal brat on a horse yesterday._

 _Wait. Asahano-san smells like the young man on the horse yesterday?!_

"Call off your dogs, Hana-chan." He still sounds like he's humoring me, but I'm stuck thinking about something else.

"Asahano-san?" I carefully pull my hand from his. "Do any of your brothers also wear their hair in a high tail?" _Do they dye their hair different colors?_

"Mmmm." He sighs. "They all wear high tails, except for Kasano-chan."

"This one dyed his hair green." Kakashi murmurs. "And he was riding a large black horse through the market square."

Asahano-san's shoulders slump forwards. "Of all the people you could have met..." He turns to glare at me balefully. "Why do you have such bad luck, Hana-chan?"

"Who was it?" I brace myself, because clearly from his demeanor, it wasn't a good person to have met.

He runs a hand through the end of his high tail, only through the electric blue and none of the black. "My eldest brother dyes the end of his hair green. He loves horse racing, and remember, I told you this before, he hates outspoken women." He leans towards me. "Please tell me that you said absolutely nothing to him and that he only startled you in the market."

I wince. "Ummm...sorry?" _I yelled at him._

"Congratulations." He snarks back at me. "You've just royally irritated the Crown Prince, my dear aniue, Hiruyasu." _Oh. That's...that's very bad._

Kakashi sighs from behind me. "And I told you that you shouldn't have done that, my lady."

Asahano glances up at Kakashi. "For once, Shinobi-san, I completely agree with you. Hana-chan should really stop opening her mouth in public." He turns with a sigh. "Well, all of you, follow me."

* * *

"Where are we going?" I ask, as Asahano leads us through a series of confusing hallways, walkways, and courtyards. Kakashi has been content to be my rather large and lurking shadow at the moment.

"To make you presentable for court." He responds, and we rush down another hallway. "To make you some more friends _hopefully._ " He mutters under his breath.

 _I do so know how to make-_ Of course, my internal protestations mean nothing when compared to what I've managed to do so far. I'd been mistaken for a servant by the sixth prince. I've irritated the Crown Prince, and currently my only ally is the prince that is dragging me around by the wrist. I can't help asking questions though. "But what are we _doing?_ Why are you being so nice to me? Why are you the one hosting me?"

"Shinobi-san?" Asahano asks rather pleasantly. "Does your lady always talk this much? Or ask this many questions?"

"My lady says what she wants." Kakashi replies nonchalantly, as he wanders about behind us, his hands shoved in his pockets, with his typical slouch. _At least I can thank him. He hasn't pulled out Icha Icha in public yet._

"Well that is a problem." Asahano observes without a hint of sarcasm. "At any rate." He turns back to me. "We are going to see my imouto, and she is going to teach you about how to be a presentable court lady and then maybe we'll be able to stick you in front of Chichi-ue without you blurting out something that will put him off of reform forever."

I blink. "I wasn't aware that you cared for reform at all." All too clearly I can hear what he'd said of my plans last time. _Because simply altruistic reasons seem a little far fetched for a shinobi._

"You know nothing about my likes and dislikes." He announces rather cheerfully. "And I'd like to keep it that way." He knocks on a door. "Is Saena-hime in?"

"Come in, Niichan." A woman calls from behind a folding screen. Asahano slides open the door. "This is my only full sister, Saena-hime." He says rather carefully. "Just as my only full brother is the sixth prince, I have only one full sister."

The woman that rises to greet us has her black hair done up instead of down and tied back, her lips are rouged, her eyes done coyly with makeup, and she's wearing a royal blue full kimono stitched with pick orchids instead of a plain green yukata, but my memory for faces that I've seen at least once isn't _that_ bad. "Ai-san?"

She smiles, but holds a wide kimono sleeve over the lower half of her face to cover it. "Forgive me, Inuzuka-san." She murmurs. "I was so curious as to what sort of girl Niichan would invite to live in the west suite of his pavilion."

Asahano looks back and forth between us. "You've met Saena-hime already?"

Ai-san raises her equally green eyes to his. "Niichan, just call me Ai, like you normally do." _Do all nobles have informal and formal names? Is this it? So...her formal name is Saena, but her siblings call her Ai?_ She pulls me over towards her divan. "And yes, Niichan. I'm afraid I hijacked Chiharu's job of delivering food yesterday. If you're going to ask for my handmaid, then you'll have to deal with the consequences." She pauses. "And this morning too." As she passes Kakashi she winks at him, almost flirtatiously. "You look much more handsome without the mask, Shinobi-san. My apologies for ignoring you yesterday."

"N-not a problem." I turn back to look at Kakashi. _Oh, how cute. He's blushing._ It's very slight, a civilian probably wouldn't notice...but his eye smile looks a little nervous to me, and he's _definitely_ uncomfortable. _Do girls in Konoha ever wink at him?_

Asahano seems...frustrated. He nods politely to Ai-hime. "I'll leave my guest to your care then, Ai-chan." And disappears out the door.

And then Ai-hime turns her full attention on me. "I've already noted some of your habits yesterday..." She muses. "And no, most of them won't do when greeting Chichi-ue at all."

She studies me. "We need to fix your clothing, and your hair, and your makeup." She tilts her head to the side, and the pearls in her hair click together. "Your posture is already very good though." She turns towards another screen. "Chiharu, call in the royal tailor. I need some new clothes made."

"Of course, Saena-hime."

* * *

About four hours later we eat lunch together. "You have to hold your chopsticks two thirds of the way up." Basically everything I do at the table is somehow not entirely polite. I don't put my elbows on the table, and I don't chew with my mouth open, but there's so much that Ai-hime does instinctively that I just...don't. I'm not entirely sure that I want to.

I fix my grip on my chopsticks. "You look frustrated, Inuzuka-san." Ai-hime observes.

"I am frustrated." I reply. "The royal tailor prodded and poked me for three hours and then he decided that I should wear a very modest pale blue." I look...not good in pale blue. I look really washed out, and my hair and eyes end up looking like dirt compared to a newly washed sky, and my skin looks very pale and bedraggled next to it.

Not to mention, it would clash horribly with my fangs.

"A lady doesn't complain." _But do I even want to be a lady?_ Ai-hime murmurs, and forces more food onto Kakashi's plate. "Come now, Shinobi-san." She raises an eyebrow at him as he's layered a genjutsu over his face. "I know that you've taken your mask off, why pretend?"

Kakashi chews, swallows, and casts pleading eyes over at me without saying anything. I'm not entirely in the mood to humor him. _Explain your circumstances and idiosyncrasies to Ai-hime yourself._

After lunch, I sit as Chiharu-chan applies makeup to my face. "It would be nicer if you didn't have these tattoos, Inuzuka-san." She muses. "You have such nice round cheeks, and such a shapely jaw."

 _I don't have any tattoos...she means my fangs._ "They aren't tattoos." I reply, and try to remind myself that she's not a shinobi. She's not even a citizen of Konoha. She has no idea what those red fangs mean to me. "They're my clan birthmarks. Without them, I'm not an Inuzuka." It's not entirely that simple, but every child whether adopted or born Inuzuka wears our red fangs as a point of pride. "Please don't cover them."

Chiharu-chan frowns. "They cover up how beautiful you could be, and they'll clash so terribly with the blue kimono." There's a retort on the tip of my tongue, I don't want to be beautiful if I'm not _Inuzuka_ Hana, but-

There's the sound of a book snapping shut. "My lady doesn't want them covered." There's something rolling in the undertone of Kakashi's voice. "So don't cover them. Besides, she looks better in red anyway."

I turn to look at him. "Kakashi?"

"You do." He eye smiles while flipping his book open again. "Don't look so frustrated, Hana-chan!"

Ai-hime looks between the two of us. "Shinobi-san." She says, gently, because she does everything gently, even her rebukes and criticisms are silk. "Please put that horrid piece of literature away. It is not polite to read it in public, especially in front of ladies." And then she turns to me. "I haven't heard of an Inuzuka clan before Niichan mentioned that he'd be hosting you, and that he's going to have to ask me for a favor."

"Of course you wouldn't have." I muttered. "None of us would ever bother coming to court to begin with. We're shinobi." I'm beginning to believe that volunteering to be a diplomat is a horribly frustrating and bad idea. _I'm no good at being exactly like every other lady in court._ I stand and start wiping makeup off of my face. "I need to go for a walk." The walls inside this luxurious room have been getting progressively closer all day. "I need some fresh air." And I bow politely to Ai-hime and Chiharu-chan. "Thank you both for your time."

And then I promptly leave the room to go and sit in the courtyard outside because I am not okay. There's straight up putting people down, and that happens all the time in Konoha, but even Hyuga Hiashi or Danzo wouldn't stoop to talking about my fangs as though they're expendable.

 _They don't understand clan pride, because they're civilians._ I remind myself. It doesn't really help.

And that's when someone else shows up during my moping fest. "Hey! Who's a nice doggy?" He's got a high tail the end dyed red, and he's also patting each of the Triplets' heads in turn right down the line and then back up again as if he's just doesn't have enough hands. "Are you a nice boy? You really are a nice boy aren't you?"

"Um..." So far, all of the princes that I've met are bratty, and the single princess, almost inhuman with propriety. This one though...seems almost like a normal human.

He turns towards me, an almost embarrassed smile on his face. He doesn't look much like any of the other princes, his face is square, his cheekbones are normal, he has earth brown eyes, tanned skin, and unlike each of his brothers, he isn't the type to be called classically handsome. "Oh sorry, are they your dogs?" I nod, and suddenly he's bounced over to me. "They really are very nice." He laughs, loud and boisterous, and I feel my own lips tilt upwards. "Are you Ni-Aniue's guest?"

I nod. "I'm Inuzuka Hana."

"A shinobi!" He takes my wrist and starts moving towards the other side of the courtyard. "Hey! Asuma, I found another shinobi!"

 _Asuma? Sarutobi Asuma? The Hokage's son? That Asuma?_

"It's not like you've been looking all over the castle for her, Morimo-oji. You've been excited about the new guest all day." A young man with grey-black hair stands leaning against the stone gated entrance of the courtyard. He doesn't entirely look like Sarutobi Asuma, but there is a resemblance there. I assume it's just because he hasn't grown a beard. _He's not old yet. The same age as Kakashi really._

"Sarutobi-san?" I ask.

He blinks at me in surprise. "I'm famous?"

Morimo-oji laughs and pats his back. "You're one of the Twelve Guardians! You're supposed to be famous!" He guides the two of us towards an adjacent courtyard. "Come on. Come on, I want to see how you fight."

"You want to see me fight?" It's a strange thing to ask, no one's asked me to fight anything since I've arrived in the capital.

"Yeah." He grins, and it's dazzling in the bright sunlight. "You're a shinobi right?" He unclips the two hooked swords at his belt and hooks them together. "Fight me."

I cock my head back at the Triplets. "Stay out of this one alright?" I don't think he's fighting with chakra enhancements, which means that I can't possibly use Fang Passing Fang on him. It would actually tear him apart.

"We'll watch!" San barks.

I palm a kunai and settle into stance.

"I will go on record." Asuma announces. "That I think this is a really bad idea."

Morimo-oji nods, his smile wide and friendly. "We'll go to first blood."

And then we lunge at each other.

* * *

He's got the long, double bladed weapon, so I make sure to dance out of his reach. The first time he lunges, I realize that he's faster than he appears, and lighter on his feet than I'd first assumed.

"Doton: Earth Wall." I raise a wall, and consider my options. _I have to get that weapon out of his hands somehow._

"HA!" And then the hooked sword comes straight through the wall. _Brute strength seems to be his strong suit._ And I crack myself up sometimes. _Strength is his strength._

I roll out of the way as he completely demolishes the wall, reaching for my pouch. I still have a two rolls of ninja wire, and attaching it to the ring on my kunai is the work of a moment.

I throw it in his direction, and he parries with grip of his sword. _Hook._

The kunai, virtue of being attached to the ninja wire, wraps around the wood instead of flying off into space. I channel a larger amount of chakra to my arms, and I _pull. Line._

He doesn't let go, until he realizes that it's not just the weapon that I'm pulling. I can pull him too. _Wonders of chakra. A ten year old girl can pull a grown man if she wants to. Sinker._

A shock flashes briefly across his face, but he's a skilled fighter. He's unhooked the front half of his weapon in an instant, and it's that end that's suddenly flying towards me, much faster now since it's no longer attached to him.

I reach a hand up and catch it in the air as he rushes towards me. We still don't have equal reach, but it's not as unbalanced at the moment. I can't win against him like this either though.

He's much more familiar with long weapons, especially this weapon. I leap back, and using the ninja wire as a lasso, I spin it around in a deadly flash of blade around me to gain space. _How do I get him to lose the other blade? He's not going to fall for the same trick twice._

He dives under the flashing ring of light, and rushes me again. _He's crazy. Completely crazy. That could have taken his head off._ But alas, it only grazes his hair.

A hand sign later, I replace myself with the blade, and rush him from the back. He spins around with the grace of jungle cat, both blades back in his hands. I block with two kunai, the act sending shock waves down my arms. _He is really freaking strong._ But then I notice the ninja wire still trailing from one of the blades.

It's enough to form a plan. I dance to his left. He turns and begins another downward strike. I keep moving to his left, ducking and dodging his strikes instead of continuing to block. The ninja wire, begins to twist with him, wrapping around in tighter and tighter circles.

He steps on the end, still aiming to hit me, and suddenly trips, falling forwards.

I'm on him in an instant. I'm aiming for a very small cut on his arm before I pause, kunai pressed against his skin. _Oh Kami. I can't do that_

He's still a prince. Shedding princely blood in the palace or elsewhere in Fire Country is an offense punishable by death.

His arm surges upwards, and _he's_ the one making sure his blood is spilled. He rolls around, an elated wild light in his eyes. "That was brilliant." He raises his head to look over at Asuma. "Did you see the lasso? I never thought of using a lasso before! And that wall was cool."

 _He doesn't...seem upset that he lost. At all._

"Yeah, yeah." Asuma sighs, from his position leaning against the wall. "You think ninja tricks are cool."

Morimo-oji's laughing though, halfway breathless as he looks up at the sky. "That was brilliant." He says again.

I offer him a hand up. "Um..Morimo-oji, you're bleeding."

He blinks, looks down at his arm, and laughs. "Yeah, yeah. That's supposed to happen yeah? I said first blood right? You were being nice." He rubs the back of his neck with the injured arm, blood spotting his gray haori. "You didn't use any fire stuff on me."

I grimace. _Oh that wasn't me being nice. I'm horrifically bad at Katon._ "I'm not really about the fire stuff."

He pats each of my dogs on the head again, and pouts. "I really should've volunteered to host you earlier!" He sighs. "But of course, Ni-Aniue got to it faster than I did. He gets to everything earlier."

Kakashi appears at about now, looking vaguely like he's the one that's been mauled. "Hana-chan!" He races towards me, something like panic in his visible eye. "Save me."

He attempts to hide himself behind me, not that it really works, since he's about two heads taller than me...but still. "Kakashi?" I poke his arm. "What happened?"

And that's when Ai-hime appears from around the corner, her hands on her hips. "Both of you!" She points at us imperiously. "Get back here."

"That's what's happening." Kakashi mutters. "I was being fitted for _clothes._ " He shudders.

"Oh horror of horrors." I mutter rather sarcastically. "You were being fitted for _clothes._ "

Morimo-oji plants himself between Ai-hime and Kakashi and I. "Ai-chan. I want them."

Ai-hime actually bristles. I can see it in her imperious head tilt, and the way her lips flatten imperceptibly. "Niichan asked me to take care of Inuzuka-san as a favor, and I _will_ take care of her." Or so help me Kami. Is heard by the rest of us, but completely disregarded by Morimo-oji.

"She was so depressed that she was sitting and sighing in the garden. Alone." He also sets his hands on his hips. "Don't you even bother saying that you're taking care of her. It hasn't been happening at all."

Ai-hime almost looks cowed. "It's my job to make sure that she's presentable for court." She hisses.

"What's wrong with the way she is right now?" Morimo-oji leans forward, his heavy eyebrows drawing together, like black thunder. "You think Chichi-ue wouldn't appreciate her the way she is right now? You'll turn her into some pretty blushing fool and expect that Chichi-ue will care about any of her proposals and plans?"

"She can't be completely daft about this!" Ai-hime throws up her hands. "Look, San-Aniue, you love people who can fight with you, but not everyone in court will see her that way."

 _So Ai-hime was concerned about me, after all._ I squeeze my eyes shut. "Please stop being so upset with each other." _They're siblings, even if they're half siblings. They shouldn't be fighting with each other._

"San-Aniue. Ai-chan." And the person that's arrived...is someone else. "Would you two keep it down?" He wears his hair in a top knot, tied with a length of white ribbon, and he's dressed like a scholar, a paper folding fan with a painted lotus in his left hand. _The Lotus Prince...he has to be younger than Morimo-oji. Ai-hime called Morimo-oji San-Aniue, so he has to be the third son. That leaves the Lotus Prince...the fourth son?_ "I have calligraphy to worry over."

"Tsuya..." Ai-hime attaches herself to his arm in an instant. "San-Aniue's being so mean to me."

"Ai-chan." He very gently disentangles her from his arm. "I don't care who was being mean to who. I want everyone to be quiet. It's bad enough that there's been the sound of fighting outside my window for the past fifteen minutes. I don't need you and San-Aniue to be shouting at each other for the next thirty." He looks around. "Besides, if we continue to make a fuss we'll attract Aniue's attention." By this, I suppose he means that we'll attract the Crown Prince's attention.

 _Eep. Is it really that bad to attract his attention?_

He disappears back in the direction from where he came.

Morimo-oji laughs awkwardly. "Sorry about that, Ai-chan. I didn't mean to come off as really mean."

At his apology, she also deflates. "It's alright. I just want you to understand that not everyone's a knuckleheaded fighting buff like you. If any of the influential courtiers protest her proposals because they can't take her seriously then Chichi-ue won't listen to us." She sighs. "That's Niichan's plan you know, he wants to push the reforms through, but the clans are being obstructive. It's only by bringing in a legitimate outside source that we can get the ideas to Chichi-ue. We'll ruin all of that if she's presented to him without any idea of how he'd react to things."

That's...something that I haven't thought of before. "Ai-hime." I step towards her. "I'm sorry for running off. Can we go back?"

She smiles at me, somewhat politely. "Yes of course, Inuzuka-san."

I turn back to Morimo-oji. "Thanks for sparring with me, Morimo-oji. It was a nice reminder of home."

He grins, and I can almost see fangs. "Anytime. I want a rematch soon." With that, he turns and beckons to Asuma. "Come on, Seiya said he'd something to show me." Asuma nods tiredly, and then follows the third prince out.

* * *

We've walked through another flower garden, Ai-hime and I together. and Kakashi, the Triplets, and Chiharu-chan right behind us, when we're interrupted.

"Pardon the intrusion." A retainer steps forward, his long pipe in one hand. "But the Magnolia Prince would like to request Lady Inuzuka's presence for tea."

Ai-hime makes some politely bland statement that roughly corresponds to: I'm loathed to give up my guest, but if Aniue wishes to invite her for tea, then I wouldn't dare to be obstructive.

I look down at myself. I'm sweaty, my knees are mud stained, and my hair is completely a bird's nest. Sparring with Morimo-oji had been fun, but it's left me even more disheveled then when I'd left Ai-hime's rooms. "Do I have time to change for tea?" _Considering how hasty the Crown Prince was the first time we met, I'd say no._

"The Magnolia Prince is waiting." _Okay then. That's a no._ The retainer glances at me, his gaze sweeping from head to toe. There's a thin veil of judgement in his eyes, but I straighten my spine. _I am an Inuzuka, and you can't cow me._

"Why don't you lead the way, as I'm not familiar with the walkways and position of rooms inside the Palace yet?" This way, he can't run off and leave me to muddle along by myself. If I'm late, it'll be his fault.

Kakashi's hand lands on my shoulder. "Good thinking." He mutters out of the corner of his mouth, too soft for the normal human ear to pick up. "Show then how generous you can be, not how petty."

I tilt my head down a single degree, and then raise it again. He will see exactly what I mean.

"Very well." The retainer responds after a pause. He doesn't seem to have noticed Kakashi and I's conversation though. "Follow me."

* * *

 **A.N.** In which there are a lot of royal goings on, and Hana makes a friend in the Third Prince. By this point she's met five of the six princes already, in various levels of actually meeting.

We have the eldest, Hiruyasu or Yasino, the Second, Hiruhitzen more commonly referred to as Asahano, the third Hirumori referred throughout the chapter as Morimo, the fourth Hirutsugu nicknamed Tsuya, and the sixth, Hiruka or Kasano. And the Saena-hime, also known as Ai-hime. At any rate, it's a lot of royals.

Thanks to CasJeanne (Hana has a very weak brain to mouth filter for most situations.), fluffpenguin (From what I can recall, Kuromaru's also capable of talking to humans. And Tsume's mindset about the Hatake Sakumo death is largely...difficult. There were difficult things that happened down at that graveyard that she tries her best not to think about much.), Sazaleli (Itachi shall reappear...not this arc though. His birthday party's in the next arc.), E.D99 (Who was the He that you referred to? Was it Asahano? If so, Hooray! :P), Rei a Wandering Shinigami (The thing with cliffhangers is...I tend to update the next day, so little suspense occurs. .), Cooked Ghost (Correct. Kakashi's realized, but he's confused. They haven't had a good chance to sit down and talk about it, you see. And yep! Hana was upset, punching a training post, and thinking chakra theory.), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), libraryrockerr, May525, Born to Sleep, WhiteFang001 (Yep! Asahano is in fact, a prince.), UnbiasedBias (Thanks for checking out Ashen! I'm glad you like it.),and DuxTell (The cliffhanger ended! sort of. And yeah, I see what you're saying about the ornateness/lack of it. I'll look over the imagery for these next few chapters again soonish.) for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	59. Kakunodate Arc: Six

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

The gardens we enter are magnificent, more so than any other ones that we've passed. The walkway is straight, but the stand of six white magnolia trees give the ground beneath them a dappled broken sort of look in the light of the late afternoon. The stone tiled walkway also seems to be arranged in some sort of pattern, but there are too many white petals for me to make out what it's supposed to be.

And these magnolia trees are the largest I've ever seen. _I suppose Hiruyasu-oji cares much for his trees. They truly are beautiful._

Kakashi whistles. "How old are these trees?"

The retainer doesn't even bother to turn around for him. "They were planted a century ago, Shinobi-san." Konoha is only nearly sixty years old.

The trees are older than Konoha, and they look it. They soar above our heads, dark green leaves and large white flowers, so large that only one would fit in my hand at a time, and yet, aren't commanding. There's a fragility to the magnolia flower despite it's commanding grace. Perhaps that's why the crown prince is traditionally named the Magnolia Prince. The trees are both dignified and noble, long-lived but also softer than other similarly old trees.

"Hiruyasu-oji." The retainer bows forwards exactly ninety degrees. "I've brought Lady Inuzuka as you requested." We've arrived at a circular outdoor pavilion with eight red pillars.

Hiruyasu-oji is sitting with his back to us at a stone table. From this angle, I can now clearly see the sword at his hip tasseled with royal gold. His hair is swept up into the high tail, and the bottom three inches are dyed the same green as his plain haori. "You're late, Abe." There's an edge of steel in his voice, something of displeasure warring with irritation.

"That would be my fault." I murmur as I step forward to sit on the other side of the stone table. "It must have taken a while to find me." Retainer Abe retreats rather quickly down the pathway. _Are you convinced you'll get eaten by a tiger if you stay? Is he really that scary?_ Kakashi comes to stand behind me.

There are only two tea settings on the table, two round dark lacquered wood teacups, a single teapot, a pitcher of water, a single box of what must be tea leaves, and a bamboo flute. _Wonders of wonders. He's only here to invite me to drink tea._

"Yes." He says, no less displeased. Now that we are sitting across from each other at the same table, it's easier to see that his eyes aren't actually dark brown or black at all. They're a stormy steel gray. "The recently arrived _Lady_ Inuzuka is late."

So he hasn't forgiven me for yelling at him. _It was probably too much to ask for._ I muse as I rise to pour tea. "Do you like stronger or lighter flavors, Hiruyasu-oji?" Because while he's a grouch, while he's irritating, maddening, bigoted and irresponsible, at least he isn't subtly undercutting or passive aggressive.

"Lighter." He reaches over and scoops out his tea leaves himself, but as I'm the one holding the teapot, I remove the lid so that he can tip them in. It's only then that I notice that the leaves aren't really leaves, but petals. _Rose? The Magnolia Prince drinks rose tea?_ The irony that he's invited me to drink Sensei's favorite tea is not lost on me.

I pick up the pitcher. _I really am late. The water's gone lukewarm. Well, no help for it then._ I set my left hand on the other side of brass pitcher. A very very small amount of chakra later the water's boiling yet again. Chakra is really just energy, from what I can tell from reading Dei-kun's notes. It's enough to warm me on cold winter days, I can use it to walk on water, heating water isn't that big of a deal after all of that.

I pour the now heated water into the teapot. "Was there something you wanted me for?" I ask, as I pour the tea into his cup.

There's something pleased in his eyes as I offer him his teacup. He takes a sip. "I accept your apology."

 _What-oh. Of course he's as traditional and uptight as that._ Pouring and offering tea to one's elders is a sign of respect, which is why Sensei, when we drink tea at his house, has his tea offered to him by one of his students, but the older custom is one of apology. In offering him tea in a teacup, I had apologized to him rather formally. "I apologize for racing in front of your horse." I frown. _What a low way of requesting an apology._ "But I don't apologize for your decision to race through a crowded square, and my decision to tell you about it." I have to define what I've apologized for, because otherwise he would think it's everything, and it isn't. _Tricking an apology from me isn't the right decision, Hiruyasu-oji. I have to pour tea for you, you're a prince. I can't very well ask you to pour tea for me._

He frowns again, setting his teacup down on the table, his lips turning down, eyebrows drawing together. "I am a prince." He states very clearly. "It is not anyone's place to question me besides my royal father, Lady Inuzuka." _Oh aren't you just a grown up brat._

"Even princes can be wrong." I comment rather mildly as I pour my own tea. "And when one is wrong, it is better that the fault is pointed out instead of hidden."

"I am never wrong." The sheer amount of arrogance that statement bleeds is suffocating. "And I do not appreciate your desire to claim that I am wrong."

"You were wrong." The words just keep coming, even though really all I'm doing is digging my own grave and sleeping in it. "You ought not to race about on a horse in a public square. It's a safety hazard." _Stupid. This is really stupid. Asahano-oji already said that his elder brother hates outspoken women._

But I can't just sit here and let him talk at me. That's not how life works. Although, I suppose, since he is a prince he doesn't have to listen to anyone who upsets him. Normally. He's clearly invited me to drink tea with him despite how much I must've frustrated him the last time we met.

"It is not a safety hazard when everyone knows to get out of the way." He takes another sip of his tea. "And everyone does know." He pauses here, and looks at me disapproval in his steely eyes. "Except for the _country bumpkin who dived across the street for a dog._ " _Do not blame me for protecting my partner, Hiruyasu-oji._

"Just because everyone knows to get out of the way doesn't mean it's not a safety hazard." I counter. I take great care not to raise the volume of my voice. I get the feeling that yelling at him a second time would just get me thrown out. I can't afford that. Now that I have his attention, I have to find some way to get to the Daimyo. _It might be good to impress Asahano-san, but ultimately, he has less political sway in court than the Crown Prince._ "The mice might learn to fear the cat for being a terror, but that doesn't mean that the cat is not terrifying."

If possible, he frowns even harder. "Are you comparing me to a public terror, Lady Inuzuka?"

And again, I don't understand what's going on with him. The first time we'd met, he'd very derisively called me girl, despite me looking less disheveled and more respectable than I am right now. Yet, now as I sit before him, mud stained and messy, he insists on calling me _Lady_ Inuzuka as if my title is something that has to be appended to me whether or not I happen to be muddy. "I am not. I am saying that you _are_ a public terror if you do this often enough that everyone knows to dive out of the way."

His fist lands on the table. "Do you know what the punishment is for talking back to a prince?"

I stand up. It's just enough to put me eye level with him. He's really very tall. "I don't, but I'm a shinobi from a clan. I answer to my mother first, the Hokage second and your father third." I pause to consider it. "Before you become the Daimyo, you don't have the power to order me executed."

He sits there, eyes wide "You thought I was going to order you executed?" There's a note of disbelief in his voice. "Dear Kami, I don't execute people for talking back to me."

 _Oh. Well._ Perhaps I've been a shinobi for too long. Death and destruction seems to go hand in hand with most punishments. If I'd talked back to captors in hostile territories my body would end up dumped back inside the border of Fire Country.

But I'm not in hostile territory right now. I'm just inside the palace complex of the Daimyo, in one of the Crown Prince's gardens. Perhaps he sees less death than I do. He's a prince, not a part of his father's army. That and I suppose if he ordered the execution of every person who ever talked back to him, he'd suddenly be out of people to talk to. "Well then," I observe as I sit back down. "If I am not being executed, I doubt that I'm going to fear any other punishment you might throw at me."

He appraises me rather calmly for someone who's known to be hasty, known to be angry. "You speak like a soldier."

"Forgive me, Hiruyasu-oji." Kakashi mutters. "My lady _is_ a soldier."

Hiruyasu-oji turns his gaze leisurely up to Kakashi. "Sharingan no Kakashi of the famed Hatake clan." He murmurs. "And you tell me that ladies can be soldiers." _That's just an insult to every kunoichi who ever walked the face of this earth, Hiruyasu-oji._

Kakashi eye smiles. "The Hatake Clan has always shared a special relationship with the Inuzuka Clan." _I didn't ever hear about that before. I'll have to get him to tell me about it later._ "And the Inuzuka are matrilineal. My lady is very much a soldier, as she is a shinobi of Konoha."

Hiruyasu-oji tilts his head to the side. "Forgive me for asking this, but how old are you exactly, Hatake-san?" He's behaving...moderately pleasantly, which is strange. He's been behaving moderately pleasantly this entire time, which is so far from expectation it might as well be a surrealist painting. "Because from what I can recall of the last war, Kanabi Bridge was destroyed when I was fourteen."

"I'm eighteen." Kakashi replies, his eye smile so brittle that I'm almost afraid that it will break with the passing of another breeze. _Of course he's famous for Kanabi Bridge. It's both his calling card, and torture whenever someone mentions it._ "That must mean that I'm two years younger than you."

"You were twelve when Kanabi Bridge was destroyed." There's a flat note of disbelief in Hiruyasu-oji's voice. "The samurai only allow their young men to join battle at 15."

And that must be the disconnect then, our ages. For all that Hiruyasu-oji holds power in court, he's ultimately...well, sheltered. People at court as a rule, tend to live longer than shinobi do. There are all sorts of punishments and penalties that he can inflict upon people, but his world is nothing like Kakashi and I's. "I killed my first person at seven and a half." I murmur. "That Kakashi was at Kanabi Bridge is not unusual." What is unusual is that he was leading the mission as a ranking jonin, but the fact that they'd set Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin, both chunin and the same age as him, to the front lines is not unusual.

Konoha accepts that we make prodigies. And Konoha accepts that sometimes we end up broken people.

"You've killed a person before." Hiruyasu-oji turns to me, a slight amount of horror on his face. "How old are you?"

"Ten and two months." I reply, and the horror on his face is all the more real.

"Ten?" He whispers. "You're _ten?_ "

"And two months." I add. It doesn't seem to help him much, but there's no time for me to say much more.

Asahano-san appears from the walkway. "I would thank you if you didn't suddenly commandeer my guest, _Aniue_." For all that Asahano-san calls Hiruyasu-oji aniue, there's no respect involved simply by the pitch of his tone. It sounds like he's speaking to something that he's scrapped from the bottom of his shoe. _That is not normally how one would speak to an elder sibling._

"I was having tea with the newest lady in court, _Asahano-chan_." Hiruyasu-oji replies, his Asahano-chan holding just as much genuine affection as Asahano-san's aniue. "Surely that is not something that you must stage a protest over?"

The pure hostility between the two of them is nothing like the minor squabbles between any of the other princes. There is something deeply personal between the two of them, and their battle of words, but I know nothing of their history. _Hiruyasu-oji admitted that he is twenty this year, Asahano-san can't be younger than nineteen._

"Aniue," And here, Asahano-san smiles sickeningly. "I wasn't aware that you were looking for a royal consort. At your venerable age, I'm sure it's hard for any lady to approach you. Might I suggest several other ladies to spend time with besides my ten year old guest?" _That is a very low blow. It also implies that the Crown Prince is yet unwed because he's scary._ I consider it. _I suppose he is prickly and irritating, but he's surely not that bad. And nobles would love to throw their daughters at him since he'll be the next Daimyo...right?_

The look Hiruyasu-oji sends him is almost bored, but not quite. "Ah, but Asahano-chan." He says, steel eyes snapping. "The only other lady that I'd take tea with is our beloved imouto, Ai-chan. She is sixteen this year, no?" Hiruyasu-oji raises a hand to examine his cuticles. "We'll have to arrange a marriage for her soon."

The blood drains from Asahano-san's features, leaving him washed out and pale. "You wouldn't _dare_ put any ideas in Chichi-ue's head."

The smile that Hiruyasu-oji sends him is poisonous in the light of the dying day. "Try me, Asahano-chan."

Asahano makes a move forwards, his hand raised.

"Stop where you are!" There's a man wearing a truly ridiculous headpiece and three attendants standing in the walkway now. Behind them, I spot Retainer Abe lurking in the background.

Both Hiruyasu-oji and Asahano-san drop to their knees. "Chichi-ue. Bansai." _Ten thousand years of life. Greetings to the Daimyo._

I rise and bow. "Kageyoshi-sama." I am ignored. It is probably for the best.

"I never thought I'd live to see the day." The Daimyo paces back and forth, truly incensed. "That you would ever raise a hand against Yasino, Asahano!" He turns to glare at Asahano-san's bowed head. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Asahano-san does not raise his head. "Forgive me, Chichi-ue. I acted rashly and without thought."

"How are you ever to help your brother rule?" The Daimyo pauses and glares at the two of them. "You are both disappointing. Yasino, you have yet to bring me the completed grain accounts and new tax records. Asahano, you, you know what you're doing wrong. I'm restricting your access to Yasino's living quarters. You are not to bother your brother again."

"Yes, Chichi-ue." The two of them whisper, heads still pressed to the stone floor.

The Daimyo turns on his heel. "Yasino, if you continue to be so irresponsible as to consort with random ladies I may have to reconsider your position in court." _Reconsider? What does that mean?_

Hiruyasu-oji rises. "Of course, Chichi-ue." He murmurs, his eyes respectfully downcast. "I will be more diligent from now on." He steps forward to assist his father. "Let me walk you to the edge of the garden, Chichi-ue. It must have been a long day for you."

The Daimyo steps away from him. "I'll leave you to your work." He turns instead to Asahano-san, still pressing his forehead to the floor, and offers his second son a hand instead. "Come, child. Tell me about your day."

The look on Hiruyasu-oji's face is bitter and pinched, but there's also a mildly triumphant light in his eyes. Retainer Abe turns around, and winks in our direction, and heads off behind the Daimyo with the other attendants. My blood goes cold. _It was Retainer Abe who invited me here for tea._

 _Hiruyasu-oji then proceeded to talk politely with me until Asahano-san arrived._ _And then Retainer Abe and the Daimyo show up just as Asahano-san is pushed over the edge and about to strike his elder brother. It was a setup all along to discredit Asahano-san in front of his father._

"I don't believe we need to drink more tea." Hiruyasu-oji strides off in the opposite direction, towards the pagoda beyond the magnolia trees. "Lady Inuzuka, you may see yourself out."

I stand by the table and watch him go, the green tip of his high tail swishing. He's much more brutal than I thought. _And I thought perhaps he was human when I was speaking to him, but it looks like his siblings have the right measure of him after all._

 _He's a snake._

* * *

Kakashi, the Triplets, and I walk back to our rooms together, retracing our steps from earlier in the day. "He's surprising." I say quietly, not sure who's listening.

Kakashi tilts his head towards me. "It's not entirely my place to say, my lady." He's keeping up the ruse still then. _I wish he would stop calling me my lady. It makes me feel even more like a fake._

I trail my hand through Ichi's fur. "Everything about this place is different." I say. Shinobi have their fights, and we have our politics, but we display our squabbles and uproars and hatreds for each other out in the open. Or at least, it's an open secret that Hyuga Hiashi and Chichi can't stand each other. That Jiraiya-san is really out to kill Orochimaru. That Kaa-san had completely cut ties with the Hyuga after Hiashi-san had told her that I was a rude child. That Sensei and the Hokage don't quite get along because of some mysterious reason or other. It might be the gossip of the jonin break room that Ita-kun has suddenly dropped his dreams for ANBU or that mild mannered ANBU Tiger has lost his eyes or Kiho-baachan can't have children or everyone knew that there was something wrong with Orochimaru to begin with.

It's a very open secret who likes who and who cares about who's business. Most of the time, it's ugly and out for the world to see.

Here, everything is beautiful, ornate and decorative, but like Kakashi said on our first night here. "It's so cold here." I murmur. Just thinking back to the events of the afternoon makes me shiver despite the warmth in the air. _Brother manipulating brother. They really do hate each other._

"I'll find you a cloak when we get back to our rooms, my lady." Kakashi steps closer, and I set a hand on his arm. _You've deliberately missed the point, Kakashi._

"That would be nice." I muse. "But don't worry about it, I can find one myself."

He tilts his head towards me, but says absolutely nothing.

San nudges my hand. "I want to be petted."

I laugh. "So demanding." We step through the gateway into the courtyard we'd been given. I crouch down, and rub his face. "But you've been such a good boy today." And then I'm mobbed by the other two.

"We want to be petted too!" Ni licks my cheek.

"We want to be petted." Ichi demands, and licks my other cheek.

"Pet us! Pet us!" I laugh, and we end up in a doggy pile, and tangle of limbs right there on the floor of the first room.

* * *

It's late. The Triplets have gone to sleep, and we are sitting in the study under the light of the lanterns when Kakashi opens his mouth to talk. "We've gotten ourselves caught in a tangled mess."

"Un." I groan and set my head on my arms on the table. "I don't know anyone who'd be willing to help us."

"So you noticed." Kakashi muses. "All of them want something from you." And I don't know if it's something that I'd be willing to give away that they want from me.

"Yes." I don't raise my head, but I do turn so that I can see him. "Asahano-san wants some sort of political thing or other. Ai-hime wants me to help her brother. Hiruyasu-oji wants to use me, did use me, to discredit Asahano-san." I sigh. "Morimo-oji's probably the only one who has a straightforward intention in this whole mess. He only wants someone to spar with."

Kakashi considers this. "I don't know about that." He murmurs. "Morimo-oji appeared at too convenient a time, didn't he? Right when you were at your most frustrated point, he randomly appears in the garden, and acts like the people you would have found at home."

"When you put it that way," I throw up my hands. "He sounds like the most suspicious character of all of them."

"It's interesting." Kakashi takes no notice of my outburst. "That we haven't met the fifth prince yet, with how many of the other ones that we've seen."

I frown. "You're right. That is weird." _Each one of the other princes have come and gone...but Kageyoshi Hirusato is conveniently absent._

"Do you know what I'm also right about, Hana-chan?" Kakashi sing songs as he stalks over to where I am. "You're uncanny ability to collect brats!" He says when I don't bother to respond.

 _It looks like I can't really distract him this time._ "I have no idea what you mean." _When in doubt, deny deny deny._

Kakashi slaps a piece of paper onto the desk next to me. "This look familiar?" There's an edge of irritation in his voice.

I pick up the paper. It's not Deidara's notes. It's Tou-san's. This makes me doubly upset. _This is my last inheritance._ "You went through my stuff." I feel angry. I feel betrayed. There's been people who want something from me, but don't bother to tell me about it all day. The last thing I want to know is that Kakashi, the only person that I can accurately call friend in this place, has been going through my belongings.

"You left it out." He shrugs. "Would you mind explaining why you have notes on the explosion release?"

"I don't have to explain anything to you." I hiss and stalk towards my bedroom. "I don't have to explain anything to a thief and a liar." Taking my things, and not telling me. What else has he been doing?

He's blocking the doorway to my room the next instant. I didn't even see him move. "I'm the thief and liar?" There's a subtle tightening of the lines around his only visible eye. "That's rich coming from you, Hana-chan." His voice drops lower. "Might I tell you that bloodline theft is a crime?" It's more than a crime. Bloodline theft is the only thing that is worse than murder in all of the Elemental Nations, and the only thing prosecuted as such. That Kakashi is accusing me of bloodline theft is so far beyond the pale that I don't even think it's real.

"You think I committed bloodline theft?" The thought rips through me with the force of a hurricane. "How dare you accuse me of thieving something that is my _birthright?_ " _Tou-san died for those notes. He died while writing them. He left them to me. I'm no more capable of thieving them than I am of thieving the Triplets._ I lean forward. "Like you said, _Kakashi,_ that's a bit rich coming from you."

He flinches back, a hand coming up over his covered eye. And that's not what I meant. That's really not what I meant, and I feel bad as soon as I see his face. The _pain_ in his expression is not what I wanted. _Oh but it was._ A nasty voice whispers. _You wanted him to hurt, because he'd made you hurt._

 _Shut up._ I shut my eyes and reach out for Kakashi. "I'm sorry." I whisper. "That wasn't-" And here my voice cracks and breaks because that lie isn't one I can tell him. I can tell him that I believe Uchiha Obito is dead, but I can't tell him that I didn't mean to hurt him when I _did._ "I-" I can't tell him that I didn't mean it. I can't. "I" I begin again. "I'm sorry. What I said wasn't true." And that's the best I can make it. It's the best I can do. Salt stings my eyes. "I was angry that you accused me of a crime, but I shouldn't have brought that up."

He's back at the table again, the distance between us a yawning chasm. "No really?" He murmurs. "If you didn't commit bloodline theft." He turns to me with an eye smile so plastic that I feel sick to my stomach. "Why do you have the explosion release notes?"

"This was written by Tou-san." And there's a sob stuck in my throat that I just can't get out. I hold the page out to him. It slips from my grasp, but no one bothers to pick it up. "It's his seventh birthday present to me."

And then I flee, because I can't stand the expression on his face. I can't stand the mixture of pain and anger that I've stirred up in him. Can't look at it a second longer.

I fall asleep sobbing.

* * *

 **A.N.** Yasino's worse than expected, but in all the wrong ways, and Hana and Kakashi have another argument. The deterioration happens largely because Hana calls Kakashi a thief and a liar (on her end for looking through her belongings, on his end, this goes straight to his left eye.) and then since bloodline theft is on his mind, he blurts that out, and then she retaliates, and then everything slides down the tubes. If they hadn't both been so frustrated by the day the conversation would probably have gone much better.

Thank you so much to fluffpenguin (What's famous in the shinobi world...less so in the capital, but hey, at least Yasino knows who he is.), Sazaleli, LittleMissSugarLess, EverBear (More my lady! But also a fight...and Hana is struggling with that part of being in the capital.), Thorn98biter, WhiteFang001 (That's the thing though, Hana attracts trouble and the rest of the people who care for her are just like O.o), bookdragonslayer (Me too, to be honest. There's a picture of him without beard on Narutopedia that I spent five minutes staring at b/c it was just so _odd._ ), Guest (I'm sorry that this was not your cup of tea, but I also can't really respond personally, as you are a guest...and I highly doubt you've read this far.), AnimeFreak7177 (:P :P), ArturoLJ50 (Well, she did yell at him...so she did something to be noticed.), UnbiasedBias (They're a different sort of kind...And Kakashi is gaining a friend and denying it all the way. The pack is not amused.), and Cooked Ghost (Yeah, Hana has no idea what she's just blundered into. In Konoha, by virtue of past knowledge she realizes who not to offend most of the time. Here...not so much.) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	60. Kakunodate Arc: Seven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Kakashi's perched in the doorway with Tou-san's notes in his hands, in the weak predawn light, his mask is hanging around his neck, but he hasn't put it back on. He offers papers to me wordlessly when I get up to take them from him.

"Thank you." There's a heavy feeling in the air, but I don't want to talk about what happened last night. _He'd only asked about Dei-kun, and I got angry and hurt him. It's my fault that we're like this._ I wander back to the bed and sit down, my head in my hands. _It's all my fault._

"Last night." He begins, but trails off, staring down at his hands. His mask isn't on, and I can see the tightness in his jaw, the ache in his eye. There's something changing about the way we are, something that's supposed to be changing, but we've gotten stuck. "Last night." He says again, but he can't finish the sentence.

I shake my head. "I shouldn't have-"

"I didn't-" He says at the exact same time. We pause and look at each other.

"I think we knew what we were going to say." I say at last. "But I'm not sure that we're ready to say it."

He blinks. "Perhaps." His lips curl upwards in the mockery of joy. "We're running away again." Most of the time, we're always running.

That causes something hot to flare beneath my breastbone. I'm an Inuzuka. We don't run from our problems if we can help it. "I'm sorry. I was upset." I want to tell him why, but I don't even know why myself, or how to explain it properly. "You took Tou-san's notes." My voice becomes smaller with each word I say. "They were his."

"You're trying really hard." He actually steps into the room, running a hand through his hair until it sticks up even more than it does normally. "I'll not look at your stuff again?" Olive branch offered.

"I'll not be so prickly." Olive branch accepted.

We stand there, three feet of space between us, but it feels like it's three feet of space that we can't cross anymore. He takes a step forward. "Are we still fighting, Hana-chan?"

I take my own step forward, and we both turn at the same time to look out the window at the orchids in the breeze. A foot of space between us, the air chilly even though it is June. "I forgive you." I say at last. "You don't have to forgive me." _I'm a reminder of your past even when I don't want to be. I can cut you open, but I can't stitch you back up._

 _We'll always be bleeding._

He laughs, eye smile seventy five plastic, and the rest pain. "And if I don't, I'll be alone again." His fingers dance over the windowsill. "I don't-" _I don't want to be alone anymore. Not if I don't have to be._

"You won't be alone." I've never really been without people to look after me, but at times, I've felt alone. Even now, when we're standing together, we both feel alone. "Gai-san would be around." _I don't want him to be my friend only because he wants to stop feeling the ugly creeping loneliness in every aspect of his life._

"You know, Hana-chan." He muses, both hands on the windowsill. "Hokage-sama suggested that I find a few more friends than Maito Gai. He says it will help with my outlook on life." He tilts his head back, and pulls the mask up over his face. "I'm inclined to agree with him on that piece of advice."

And I suppose, even if I am a reminder of his past whenever he's not lucid, even if I say all the wrong things, even so, it's better than loneliness.

I laugh a little. "There are plenty of people in the world." Plenty of people who would be much kinder.

"And only one I call Hana-chan." And the sun rises above the horizon. _The world ends every night, and begins again with the rising sun._

I square my shoulders. I still have a job to do. "I'll find you flowers for an apology when we get back to Konoha." I offer.

His hand lands in my hair. "Overeager puppy. You've already offered me perishing with grace, immaturity, longevity, and forgiveness. What are you offering me next? Nobility, dignity and love?"

"There are still plenty of virtues left to give." I pry his hand off of my hair very carefully. It's warm. "Gratitude and remorse have a place in this world as well."

"No need for flowers." He turns to me, the expression on his face finally genuine, despite being covered by a mask. "You can make me fish again." _Home. He wants to go home._ He wants to go home. And I'm willing to try.

But then I remember that I'm terrible at cooking, especially at grilling fish. "Kakashi, I'm fairly certain that you'll end up eating black stuff. Not fish."

He shrugs. "It'll have character." And then he finally pulls out Icha Icha.

I can't help giggling. "It'll be a charred mess." I bounce past him to wake the Triplets. "And then you'll get sick and wind up in your most favorite place in the world."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "And where would that be?"

I pause, and stick my head back around the doorway to answer him. "The hospital, Kakashi. I know how much you adore Konoha General."

He throws his book at me.

I catch it and continue onward towards my partners. "It's morning! Rise and shine!" I don't bother opening Icha Icha. _It's basically soft core porn. Who'd ever want to keep reading that over and over again?_

* * *

It's mid afternoon when Hirusato-oji appears in the courtyard. Kakashi and I had been sitting at opposite ends of our round stone table reading two very different things, I, my chakra control notes, while spinning four kunai on my left hand, and he, Icha Icha, while calmly chucking pebbles in my direction thus causing me to dodge every half a minute or so.

 _Target._ Kakashi taps casually on the table. _Incoming._

The person who's coming walks like a civilian. I've been hearing his footsteps since two gardens over, and he is definitely heading in our direction. I nod back at Kakashi, fingers tapping against my page. _Noted._

"Lady Inuzuka? Do you have a moment?" I look up at the young man standing off to the side of the garden. He has his hair pulled up in a high tail, a trail of golden butterflies falling from a pin at the base, the last two inches dyed purple, and his eyes are a deep shade of blue, like summer skies. He's holding a round fan painted with gently curling iris flowers, but what's most noticeable about him is how colorful his clothing is.

He's wearing a dazzling shade of dark purple, that looks more like plums than iris blue, and it's styled more like a woman's kimono than a haori, thought it keeps the open sides and he's wearing darker hamaka pants. It has dancing golden dragons weaving about across the front and trailing onto the back, and his black obi is tied in the front. _How unusual._ The only women who tied their obis in the front tend to work in Yoshiwara.

I rise and gesture to the vacant seat to my right. "Please sit, Hirusato-oji." Kakashi rises, and comes to stand behind me, his book gone, and his eye staring straight ahead into nothing. _Kakashi's gotten really good at pretending to be a bodyguard. I wish he didn't have to._

Hirusato-oji laughs, and moves forward. This close, I can see the rouge on his lips, the careful way his neck has been powdered a shade whiter, and the blush applied to his cheeks. He looks older than Tsuya-oji, which is strange because he's the fifth prince, not the fourth. _He ought to look younger._ "Call me Seiya." He says, as if it's nothing more than a casual formality to be dispensed with. "Just Seiya, no oji."

"Seiya-san, then." I decide. _He's even more casual than Morimo-oji. Why?_

He sits down in the seat across from me, the seat that Kakashi has vacated, though I'd gestured to the seat at my right. "I'll be frank with you, Lady Inuzuka." This has my hackles rising. _No one has bothered to be frank about what they want from me since the gate guard at the entrance of the palace complex._

 _Ashano-san, and Ai-hime haven't appeared all day. Your eldest brother tricked me for his own ends. Your fourth brother barely noticed my existence, and your third brother probably has some sort of motive. Why would you be any different?_ He sets his fan down on the table between us, and pulls a flute from his side and sets that on the table as well. "I have mixed feelings about the reforms you want to propose."

Well, that...is actually rather frank. "Why?" I ask. If he's willing to tell me that he has misgivings, and this is the first time that anyone's actively mentioned what I came here for at all to me, then I hope that he's willing to tell me why.

He smiles. "Lady Inuzuka," He says. "Let us suppose, that there is a young woman who has no skills or particular talents and no schooling. Where does she go right now?"

"To Yoshiwara." And that's why I'm here. There are so many young women in the ninth district who end up in brothels for however long they are young and pretty simply because of the conditions he's described. "They go to Yoshiwara."

"In the capital they go to the Willow District." He sighs. "That's not really important though." He mumbles to himself. "Let's suppose that we abolish Yoshiwara." There's a wistful tone to his voice that I don't know how to place. "Where would the same young woman go?"

"To a better life." _I hope. That's the purpose of this whole trip after all. That the entire ninth district will end up with better lives._

"But that's not guaranteed." He says, and he picks his fan up. "And that's what worries me." _He is being frank after all._ "You see." He says as he fiddles with his fan. "You're proposing building plans. I'm sure you care for the people, but there aren't provisions for what you want to do _after_ making the brothels illegal."

"But the situation right now is terrible." I can't just watch what is happening right now continue on into perpetuity. If no one ever stepped up to make a change, then nothing would ever happen at all. I feel Kakashi's hand on my shoulder. _Kakashi believes in me._

"Yes." Seiya-san sighs. "Yes it is. You can understand why I don't want to make it worse." The fan in his hand moves idly back and forth. "You know, Lady Inuzuka, there is such a thing as killing a bull by straightening its horns." He looks at me and I can see the sorrow in his eyes. "Sometimes the proposed cure is worse than the problem that it fixes." I open my mouth to protest, but he holds up a hand. "Hear me out, and I'll hear you out." I nod, and he continues. "Right now, the girls there are selling themselves, but at least the geisha and maiko have better conditions than the average poor woman. They have more protections than the average prostitute. What's to say that if we simply tear down the ninth district we'll be able to prevent desperate young women from selling their flesh in more dangerous ways, without intermediates without oversight and without anyone who knows what they're doing?"

The picture he paints is frightfully bleak. "The largest reason they aren't able to escape poverty is because they're uneducated, right? They currently lack better options, and so the families sell their daughters off for a certain amount of years."

He inclines his head in my direction. "Yes." There is something frightfully sad in his voice. "Yes." He says again. "And their brightest hope is to become the mistress or at best consort of a nobleman who treats them better." _He knows these people. They mean something to him._

"Seiya-san?" I reach out and set my hand over his. "Then we need to give them education. We can't simply stand about and hope that the situation will improve itself."

"Would that I have your hope." He murmurs, eyes closed. "It would be nice to hope."

"What has made you lose hope?" I ask. _What has made you so afraid to change that you think of worse alternatives?_ But he has brought a good misgiving to my table. I will have to redraft and revise different portions of what I plan. _Education. I must find a way to bring that to the ninth district as well._

He is silent for a long time. "Reality." He says at last, a slow, sad smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "I was born in the Willow district. I lived there until I was nine."

"But you're-"

"A prince?" He opens his eyes. "Yes, I suppose so. And Haha is the Daimyo's eighth consort." And suddenly his concern for my plans makes sense now. _He has lived in a place like the ninth district before. It has made him careful. That is why he wants to be called Seiya-san, not Seiya-oji. He's lived without the title._ What is stranger still is the idea that the eighth consort is not a noblewoman. For Seiya-san to have lived in the Willow District...she was at best a geisha.

"Then Tsuya-oji?" I don't quite know how to ask without being rude.

"He's sixteen which is two years younger than me." Seiya-san nods. "I am three months younger than San-Aniue." Then that means that Seiya-san and Morimo-oji are both eighteen.

"Is Asahano-oji nineteen?" But Seiya-san's words have reminded me that none of the princes really have to be at least a year apart. _The Daimyo has...eight consorts and a wife?_

"He's twenty." Seiya-san replies evenly. "Eight months younger than Yasino-nii." The fond light in his eyes as he speaks about Hiruyasu-oji has me pause. _He's the only one of Hiruyasu-oji's siblings to actually refer to him fondly._

 _Why is that?_

Seiya-san laughs. "I see you've met Yasino-nii." There's a hint of a playful smile on his lips. "He really can be quite stubborn and recalcitrant isn't he?"

"I wouldn't say that." I murmur rather diplomatically, my mind going back to what I'd seen of Hiruyasu-oji. _He'd been cruel. He'd been manipulative. He'd been arrogant. I don't think stubborn and recalcitrant quite cover his flaws, Seiya-san._

"Don't worry so much if he's done something to offend you." Seiya-san offers. "He'll come around to apologize eventually. He always does."

"Somehow, I don't find that believable." I really, really don't. _Are we even talking about the same person here?_

"Yasino-nii can't stand strangers being upset with him, or disapproving of his actions." Seiya-san rises from his seat at the table. "Especially not a lady who's only ten or so. His honor will demand that he find some way of apologizing to you."

I very much doubt it, but he seems convinced, so I keep my mouth shut as he walks away. He'd seemed nice enough, right up until the moment he'd opened his mouth about Hiruyasu-oji and only good things came out despite...everyone else's attitude about the Crown Prince.

* * *

The next week passes rather quietly, as Kakashi and I receive no visitors whatsoever. It seems as though after the initial rush to visit the guest that Asahano-san has located, that no one really wants to take notice of us at all. Life in the palace moved on like clockwork, and we were merely passing curiosities. The Triplets have taken to crawling about on every garden path and playing leap frog for hours because they are easily entertained.

Kakashi and I...less so. It's about mid morning. He's finally stopped reading Icha Icha, because it has to get old sometime, and while I sit on an arm of the couch, he's flopped over the rest of it, in the baking June heat. "Ne, Hana-chan." He says after dropping Icha Icha on the floor. "Do you suppose that there are koi pools somewhere?" The conversation between us has gotten less stilted, only because we are pretending to be perfectly normal. It sort of works.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Of course there are koi pools in the palace complex. It's imperative that they exist somewhere in this maze of buildings." I set down the newest page of the reform proposal that I am redrafting and turn to look at him. "The question is, what do you want with the pool of koi? Feed them?"

Kakashi laughs. "Maa...Hana-chan, what makes you think they won't feed me?"

 _He's gotten so bored that he wants to go out, catch the Daimyo's koi and set them on fire with Katon Jutsu? Good lord, what's he going to think of doing next?_

'i'm sure that such an idea would not be appreciated." I pick up the next sheet of paper in my reform draft. "The Daimyo would not be happy if you set his fish on fire."

The man actually pouts at me. "But Hana-chan..."

"Hana! Hana! Hana!" San leaps over the doorway. "We have a visitor, Hana!"

In an instant, Kakashi is standing perfectly seriously behind the couch, and I am sitting as a normal person would. "Thank you Ichi."

Two minutes later, a girl appears before us. "Inuzuka-sama, the Consort Ine wishes to invite you on her boating trip on Lake Toya this afternoon." It's the first time anyone's paid attention to us in a week. I am tempted to accept even though I know it will be miserable. "Hiruhitzen-oji and Saena-hime are to be present." The girl offers when she sees me consider it.

 _So it's really Asahano-san doing the inviting._ "Where should I meet Consort Ine's party?"

"I am supposed to help you dress and then guide you to the party." She bows towards me. "I am Niwa." _One of Asahano-san's attendants? She's not Ai-hime's handmaid, but she may also work for Consort Ine herself. But she definitely comes with Asahano-san's orders._

"No makeup for my lady." Kakashi addresses her rather seriously. "A shinobi tradition."

I send him a grateful look. _Thank you._

He winks at me. I suddenly have flashbacks to Ai-hime. _How odd. Kakashi has never bothered with winking before. I wonder if he's...absorbed other people's habits by osmosis?_

As I move away to be tugged and pulled into formal clothes, I see the gleeful amusement in his eye. _Oh no. He was just being a troll again._ I cast a displeased look in his direction. _Would you ever stop?_

* * *

The Triplets decide that they'd much rather stay inside the gardens, because Ni proclaims loudly that he wouldn't like to visit a lake at all, because any lake inside the palace complex would be teenie tiny. His brothers are willing to agree with him. As it turns out, Lake Toya is not inside the palace complex, which means that we'd be taking carriages out to the lake. _Silly dogs._ I'd made sure to wear the same furisode as my ascension day. It's only been half a year, but it's already a little short, despite it being long enough for me to trip over the last time I wore it. _I suppose I'm growing._

Niwa-san leads the way, and I walk with my hand on Kakashi's arm. He is thankfully not reading. At the east exit of the palace complex are several carriages, and a crowd of young noblewomen and men gathered about in various stages of leisure. They seem to all be paying court to a slightly older woman at their center. I assume that this must be Consort Ine.

She has a heart shaped face, a delicately pointed chin, and mischievous cat green eyes. "Oh, Lady Inuzuka." She holds a hand out towards me, and every young woman fluttering around her turns to look at Kakashi and I. "I've heard so much about you from Asahano-chan." _My Haha-ue calls me Asahano. So this is Asahano's mother, the Daimyo's most favored consort._

"The pleasure of meeting is all mine." I bow forward thirty degrees. This woman is at least the second most influential woman in the Daimyo's court.

Ai-hime giggles. "Shinobi-san." She says as she pries Kakashi away from me. "Won't you take the mask off? We're all among friends here after all."

"I would rather not." He murmurs, and very carefully extracts himself from her and returns to his place behind my shoulder.

Ai-hime turns to me next. "Would you ask him to take the mask off? He'd look so much better without it." _Order Kakashi to take his mask off?_ The sacrilege of the thought is almost impossible to contemplate.

By this point, every young woman in the near vicinity is scrutinizing the two of us, and several are whispering behind their folding fans. I don't think they know that I can hear them. I'm not sure if they'd care even if they knew. " _That's_ Lady Inuzuka?" "She's nothing more than a child." "Are they really shinobi?" And more speculation on whether or not Kakashi actually looks handsome without the mask. Clearly, that's the more important topic now that Ai-hime has brought it up.

"No." I respond. "Kakashi can wear whatever he wants. That includes his mask." _He wouldn't take it off just because I ordered him to anyway._

"Ai-chan." Consort Ine turns to her daughter. "Leave the poor young man alone." She sets a small white hand on Ai-hime's shoulder. "He probably doesn't have much confidence in himself." But there's a dancing laughter in her eyes. She's teasing him. Clearly, she's also curious about what's under Kakashi's mask.

"On the contrary." I mutter quietly to Kakashi. "I would say that reading Icha Icha in public is too much self confidence, or just not enough energy to care."

He chuckles. "My lady knows me so well."

Consort Ine turns back to us. "You said your name was Kakashi, no?" She tilts her head to the side, and the strands upon strands of blue pearls in her hair clicking lightly against each other.

"Hatake Kakashi, Consort Ine." Kakashi stares straight ahead, to some distance past her.

"Sharingan no Kakashi, my lady." One of the many retainers around her adds. "An S-ranked shinobi from Konohagakure no Sato."

Half of the court turns to regard me with new eyes. "Your lady must be very important to you, Hatake-san." Consort Ine observes. _They think I command him like some sort of servant._ The thought makes me sick.

But before I can speak, another retainer rushes towards us. The thunder of hooves sounds in the distance, but it's too soft for any of the party besides Kakashi and I to hear it yet. "The Magnolia Prince has arrived!" He announces grandly. The entire gathered party goes silent, and there is a slight downturn of Consort Ine's lips. _She didn't expect Hiruyasu-oji to come see us off? Why would Hiruyasu-oji want to come see us off? She isn't his mother._

The clatter of hooves grows louder, and Hiruyasu-oji appears on his black horse. As he draws closer to Consort Ine's party, he leaps gracefully from the saddle. When he approaches, the ladies scatter out of his way. _So they do find disdain for him. I still have yet to learn why._ "Ni-Haha-ue." He kisses the back of Consort Ine's hand. Her eyes look as though they would rather strike him down where he stands. _He called her second mother..._ "Allow me to escort you to Lake Toya, as it seems that our dear Asahano-chan is late."

She doesn't look like she wants to agree, but she takes a deep breath, and smiles. "Of course, if Hiruyasu-oji is willing to humor an old woman, how could I say no?" Her words place her below him in rank, but she very carefully distances herself from him as well. He'd addressed her affectionately as second mother, and she'd referred to him by his formal title.

The scene is awkward at best to watch. Asahano-san arrives shortly afterwards on a blood bay horse. He glares briefly at Hiruyasu-oji as though he would rather that his brother go off and die than to be coming with us, but schools his face into an impressive amount of welcome and maturity. "Aniue, it's good to see you."

"The pleasure is mine, Asahano-chan." Hiruyasu-oji responds, and with a nod to the drivers, we move towards the carriages.

I end up riding in a carriage with Consort Ine and Ai-hime, Kakashi perched on the roof as we move out towards Lake Toya. "How did your meeting with Aniue go?" Ai-hime asks as she raises the cloth partition and checks that Hiruyasu-oji is nowhere in sight.

"He was very polite." I respond. "We drank tea." _And then he used me to irritate the Daimyo._ I do not add.

"You're acquainted with Hiruyasu-oji?" Consort Ine asks, her eyes searching my face for _something._ I just have no idea what it is.

"In passing." I respond, and her eyes relax minutely. "I do not know him particularly well." _Does she think that Hiruyasu-oji decided to come on this trip with us because she invited me?_

Unfortunately, though I can't really tell myself that his appearance is a compliment, I can see Hiruyasu-oji worming his way into her gathering because I could serve some nefarious purpose in some plan or other.

* * *

Lake Toya is nearly completely circular, and the waters are the clearest I've ever seen in a lake. The summer sky dyes it a deep blue, and each fluffy white cloud above is clearly reflected in the water below. Asahano-san and Hiruyasu-oji tether their horses on opposite sides of the pier.

"That's Nakajima Island in the center there." Ai-hime says while gesturing to the green mound in the center of the lake. "That is where we are headed. There's a pavilion there where we are to go and admire poetry." Our group ends up heading towards a large boat which looked more like a warship than anything else at the end of the pier.

Consort Ine, her children and various hangers-on arrange themselves at one end, Kakashi and I among them, while Hiruyasu-oji lingered on the fringe of the conversation. _Why did you come if you didn't want to socialize?_ Asahano-san passed around a bowl of plums, and with a nod from him, the various servants and guards retired to below deck. "Aniue." He murmurs. "Come join us."

It's forced at best, but it passes for polite speech. "Why Asahano-chan." Hiruyasu-oji replies. "I'd be delighted." He takes a seat, setting a flute onto the table, but doesn't bother to consume any fruits.

"Aniue." Ai-hime smiles brightly at him, far too brightly to be normal. "Would you be so kind as to grace us with your musical talent?" She gestures towards the flute that he'd set on the table. "You've gone so far as to bring an instrument with you."

"Actually," Consort Ine sets a hand under her seat. "I'm very fond of zither music, and it is well known that Hiruyasu-oji's musical talent is unsurpassed among the princes." She brings up a rather old and dilapidated looking instrument with chipped varnish and a slightly crooked bow. "Would you be so kind as to play the zither for us, Hiruyasu-oji?"

On the other side of the circle, I see a flash of glee in Asahano-san's eyes.

 _They're bullying him. Hiruyasu can't possibly play that without embarrassing himself. It's easier if he refuses, but it would be shameful to refuse as well._ It truly does look that the zither that Consort Ine is offering to Hiruyasu-oji would give out with half a minute of bowing. The corners of his mouth turns up though, despite the mild irritation in his steely eyes. _She banked on playing with his pride, that he wouldn't back out of a challenge in such a large group of people._ "You know me so well, Ni-Haha-ue. I do so live to please." He takes the zither from her grip, and sets the box of it on his knee, gently cradling the bow and body with his hands. "Do I have a song request?" He looks up at the gathering, his eyes scanning Consort Ine's face. "No?" Then he turns to me. "Lady Inuzuka, as you are the newest lady in court, do you have a request?"

I look at him, still holding that aged and pretty much broken instrument when there's a perfectly good flute beside him, and I can't ask him for any sort of song at all. _Who would be so cold hearted as to request him to play something he's not familiar with on that?_ "Whatever you would like to play would be fine, Hiruyasu-oji." I set my hands in my lap, and try not to grit my teeth.

He inclines his head in my direction. "A song for a beautiful lady then." And then he draws the bow across the strings and begins.

His musical talent has to be incredible, because even though the zither ought to fall apart with one good gust of wind, in his hands, it sings like liquid silver. Every person is spellbound in silence. He wets his lips, and begins the vocal accompaniment to the old zither, voice ringing out across the lake. "I am duckweed, you are water. Our love is hardly a crime. The earth will always cry, the skies will always weep. My blood dyes itself red for you."

Consort Ine pales. Hiruyasu-oji smiles, and continues singing. "I wish to fly with you. It's a dream to have you in this life. In our next life, we fall in love again. I wish to fly with you..." His voice is fanciful, wistful, but the look in his eyes is cruel.

 _This particular song means something to Consort Ine, but he's dedicated it to me so she has no grounds to protest it._

Asahano-san looks as though he's about ready to set his hands around his brother's neck and throttle him.

* * *

Hiruyasu-oji's song has just ended, and Consort Ine looks rather faint, when I notice something shift in the air. My eyes meet Kakashi's. His hitai-ate is up, the single sharingan eye, and it's tomoe spinning lazily.

A moment later, five shapes lunge out of the water towards the edge of the boat, I throw myself forward towards the closest one of them, a kunai in hand. _Attackers?_

Behind me, Kakashi's moving in on another two. Someone screams, and several more people join them. I'm not in the right clothes for a fight, and for the first time since the morning, I am thankful that the furisode is just a little bit short.

I clash blades with my target, and get a good look at them for the first time. _A mask...ANBU...no. ROOT._ I have no time to think about why ROOT Ninja are here at lake Toya, or why they are attacking a royal outing.

I throw myself to the right, rolling across the deck. Asahano-san's in front of his mother and sister, sword out and ready, but no one is attacking him. Kakashi's dispatched one of the attackers already, blood seeping onto the deck. He's currently locked in a duel with another two.

There's one attacker doing his best to poke me full of holes with a tanto at a leisurely pace, but I am able to keep ahead of him, though my furisode cannot. Each casual hole that he rips in my clothing makes me angrier. He isn't taking me seriously, and my cousins had put their hearts into this piece of clothing, the first piece of formal clothing that someone had handmade for me.

The last attacker is facing off with Hiruyasu-oji, who has a zither in one hand and a sword in the other. _Enough is enough._

The next strike down with the tanto, I grab with my hand, ignoring the sting and slippery feeling of blood in my grasp. My other hand grips my opponent firmly on the wrist an instant later. _Even a mouse will bite when cornered, and I am an Inuzuka. We are not mice._

I don't wait for him to attempt to stab me with something else sharp and pointy. I pull chakra to my hands, made easy by my blood already coating his blade, and I push. Raiton chakra goes everywhere, bleeding into the air, but most of it travels through him.

The attacker jerks violently for a few seconds, and then goes still. I drop him. He's suddenly impaled by a wooden spike. _Mokuton?_ I stand there, breathing hard, trying to remember the name of the character who wielded the Wood Release due to an implant of the Shodaime's cells. I can't quite recall.

The clash of metal on metal reminds me that there is still a fight going on. Kakashi's still dealing with the one wielding the Wood Release, and Hiruyasu-oji...

He might be fast with a sword for a young man without chakra boosts, but honest to Kami the ROOT member is just playing with him. He has shallow scratches all over his arms, and he's tiring, a hand over his stomach as though he'd been stabbed there as well. And then as I watch, time slows down. He slips on a patch of blood on the deck, and starts to fall backwards, the ROOT agent raises his tanto in a downwards slashing gesture, and suddenly I have both hands against the ROOT agent's chest, and everything is a hazy shade of red. _He's only a civilian. He's got nothing to do with you._

I find my chakra and _push. Fast. Slow. A hand for each._

His chest disappears, and the rest of him isn't much better. Red splatters across the deck, and falls like rain over me. It's warm and wet and I don't want to recognize that it used to be a person.

Behind me, Hiruyasu-oji staggers to his feet. "Look out!" His hand closes around my wrist as he pulls me back against him. A kunai passes before me, an inch from my nose. _If I'd still been there, I'd have a kunai through my skull._

We fall backwards, hard against the wooden railing. I hear it snap under our combined weight. We slide out into empty space...

And then the cold blue waters of Lake Toya swallow us whole.

* * *

 **A.N.** In which Hana and Kakashi attempt to have a talk, Seiya _finally_ shows up, an outing is planned, Yasino shows up to destroy the atmosphere, and...ROOT happens. Notice that Hana made herself a target, but the actual target wasn't Hana.

This chapter was hard to write, 6000+ words and so many introductions of characters and ways that they interact with each other. Augh. But it's done now.

Thank you so much to Zeru'Xil (Hmm...Orochimaru is slightly more insane...and Hana will make friends, possibly.), EverBear01 (Yeah...she's not entirely naive but she thinks in straightforward terms. The people around her don't.), Sazaleli, LittleMissSugarLess, Snidekick (Thank you! Also you were the 300th reviewer, was there an Ashen prompt that you'd like to ask for?), DuxTell (Hana explodes an actual person. It is...gory.), fluffpenguin (Ah, yes. The infamous Kishimoto timeline. I'm using Selentau's updated version on Narutopedia for most events, but yeah, Kakashi's age makes no sense whatsoever...I'm sorry that you felt the ending scene was for drama purposes...), Daemona Evernight (Me, I suppose. :P), B.O.B-Muck-Fangirl1445 (I do attempt to update fairly frequently.), 4everfictional, AnimeFreak71777 (:P), Cooked Ghost (Yes, it was. And they don't really know each other, despite trying to act like they do, so it causes problems. Also, in typical East Asian tradition, yes the brothers help rule, and the Crown Prince is simply whomever the Daimyo chooses. Exchanging one for the other isn't a common process, and typically, it is a task for the eldest son, but not definitively. And yes, it does relate to Asahano's claim, as he's better loved and he and Yasino are only eight months apart in age.), NightsBlackRose13 (Yep. Politics suck, and the Daimyo's family is a jumble of rope.), libraryrockerr, WhiteFang001 (Kakashi will.), LizWhales, bookdragnslayer (They were both hurtful, but Kakashi doesn't cry.), and Shion Lee for reviewing!

And for everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	61. Kakunodate Arc: Eight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

We fall faster than I expect, the cold water nearly shocking all the air from my lungs, Hiruyasu-oji's arm wrapped around my shoulder. The long ripped sleeves of my furisode, and the constraining nature of the kimono, do nothing to help our situation. But I know how to swim, and my injured hand breaks the surface. I force more chakra through it, thankful that we aren't actually in the ocean. _No sharks. There's far too much blood in the water._ I think, and attempt to hold my breath. The chakra expulsion makes it easier for me to pull myself towards the surface.

Hiruyasu-oji is mostly unresponsive, and I can't turn my head to look at him, he's behind me. My right arm is tangled in his grasp, so I pull our heads above the surface with one hand through sheer power of will.

I pull us towards the boat, the water both solid and not, expending chakra at a rate that is really unsustainable. _Will no one help us? What the hell are they doing up there?_ From somewhere in the vicinity of my neck, Hiruyasu-oji coughs, and his grip around me loosens. "Drop me, Lady Inuzuka. You'll make it alone."

I feel a flash of irritation. My good hand grabs a fistful of his shirt. "Like hell. Do you want to _die_?" _Is he stupid? Has he gone mad? He's the crown prince. One doesn't just drop him._

"I'll pull you up." A rope drops down before us. It's Asahano-san. He's shaking like a leaf, but he has a steady grip on the rope. I doubt he'd be able to drag both a man and a girl up the nearly vertical side of the boat though. He's unused to combat, and he hasn't got Kakashi's strength.

I wrap my injured hand around it, and feel the rope fibers dig into my skin, and into the cut, which has begun to ache steadily. I pay it the amount of attention it is due, which is to say, none at all. _I can worry when we're not about to die._

"You can't possibly pull both of us up." Hiruyasu-oji is still speaking to me from next to my ear, surprisingly logical, not at all mocking, but adversity brings out the measure of a man, or so the saying goes.

Normally I wouldn't be able to. I am low on chakra, bleeding freely, there's a dizzy ringing in my head that might have something to do with too much water in my ears, and we are both far heavier than I ought to be able to carry on one arm.

But he's telling me that I am not enough, and that's enough to spark emotion in me, even if it's only irritation. _What gives you the right to say that I am not enough?_ "Watch me." I snark, and I pull, dragging the two of us out of the water, up that seven feet onto the deck of the boat, feet braced against the wooden siding. "I told you." I gasp as I collapse on deck. "I could do it."

"So you could." He murmurs as he rolls over to the side, a hiss of pain following the quick movement. We are both dripping wet, but I can see him now, as I painfully unwind the rope from around my hands.

He still has his hand pressed against his stomach. _That must be why his other arm never made an appearance while in the water._ I move over towards him. "How bad is the injury?"

He frowns at me mulishly and nods at my hand. "See to yourself first."

I look down at my hand. There's a deep gash on my palm, but my fingers are unharmed. A tanto only has a blade on one side after all. With a slight wince, I rip the shreds of my left sleeve off to bind the wound. I tie the knot on the makeshift bandage with my good hand and my teeth. "See, I've taken care of it." I shrug, and turn back to Hiruyasu-oji. "Now show me your wounds before you pass out on deck and I have to do it while you're unconscious."

All around us, various noblemen and women recover just enough to shudder at the sight of the bloody deck. I feel a surge of irritation. _That's not what you worry about right now._ I look around, and revise my thought. _Sure, there are three dead bodies and one that's completely blown apart, but honestly._

 _I suppose that's what it means to be civilian._ I used to be one of them, huddling to the sidelines, afraid of blood and gore and completely repulsed by the reality of violence. I don't know where that girl went. At the moment, I'm more concerned about the stubborn prince who's refusing to show me his injuries. I can tell that it isn't good though, there's red seeping through his ornate outfit, not rapidly, but enough to be of immediate concern.

He removes his hand. _That...needs stitches._ I raise my eyes towards the group of fainting noblewomen. "Did any of you bring stitching, or embroidery with you?" I can manage basic first aid, it's something every genin learned in the Academy, but I don't have my normal pack on me, and thus, I'm low on actual first aid material.

"I-I did." Ai-hime holds her embroidery hoop towards me.

I take it from her with a polite smile. "My thanks, Ai-hime."

She doesn't meet my gaze, but instead scurries back to the comforting crowd of noblewomen. _That's...slightly rude. Oh well._ "Apply pressure around it." I mutter to Hiruyasu-oji, as I rip out both the embroidery needle, and all two feet of silk thread from Ai-hime's latest creation. "This is going to hurt."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Really." He murmurs, voice faint. "I thought it would feel like feathers."

I choke back a laugh as I start stitching the gash on his side together. "I didn't think you had a sense of humor."

He frowns, but doesn't say anything.

"Inuzuka-san." A voice interrupts.

I don't bother to look up from my work. "What?"

Asahano kneels down on the other side of his brother, though he seems not at all concerned. _Again. That is a surprising amount of callousness towards your own brother._ _I_ know it is a concern though. We're still out in the center of a lake, and even then, it is a leisurely thirty minute carriage ride up to Lake Toya. The Crown Prince's first line of defense to bleeding out in the wilderness is me. "Your guard," Here he shakes himself as if not entirely believing what he is about to say. "Your guard." He begins again. "Chased the last attacker out _over the water_ towards Nakajima Island."

I shrug. "Kakashi can take care of himself. He's probably wrapping up loose ends." _Questioning the last one, more like it. He certainly recognized them as Danzo's handiwork. The last one...was the one wielding wood release, right? That's rather important._

I finish stitching up Hiruyasu-oji's side, and sacrifice my right sleeve to bandage his wounds. My hand reaches for his forehead automatically. "No fever." I mutter to myself. "Good. In control of mental facilities then." I look around at the frozen nobles. "Well? Isn't anyone going to make sure that this boat gets back to land?" _Don't they have a shred of common sense?_

I loop one of Hiruyasu-oji's arms over my shoulder, and he staggers to his feet. "Would you prefer to just run back to the palace?" I ask, before I realize that he can't possibly run on water. _Some things I take for granted._ "Never mind." I mutter. "Don't answer that."

"Well," Consort Ine claps her hands together. "We must head back to the palace then." _No? I thought we were still going to Nakajima Island?_ I think rather sarcastically to myself.

But we're moving too slowly still, and Hiryasu-oji is getting progressively worse by the minute. _Why is the response so lackluster? He's the Crown Prince, they should all be crowding us and asking for blessings to his health or something._

 _The gore shouldn't be stopping them._

* * *

Five minutes later, I lose patience with the speed of the boat. "We're going back to the palace, _now._ " I pull him along with me towards the broken gap in the railing. "Hold on tight." I mutter as I rearrange his arms so that they are wrapped securely over my shoulders. I am about to tip us both towards the water before he speaks again.

"What are you doing?" There's a note of trepidation in his voice, though he speaks softly so none of the other people can hear us.

"I'm water walking us back to land." I whisper back. "And then we can take your horse and get back to the palace. You need medical attention." I consider the drop for a moment. "Your feet might drag in the water though."

"You sound like this is something you do everyday." The trepidation has vanished, but the doubt's come back. I don't like it.

Being out of the water has cleared my headache, but my hand is getting worse, despite my pretense about it's lack of severity. _I have to get him back to the palace. He needs to survive._

I can't imagine what the consequences would be if he did not live. "I do." I square my shoulders. "Not this exact thing, but you'd be surprised." And then, I tip us over the side, and begin the long jog back to the pier. A kilometer, maybe more.

It takes me ten minutes to get to the other side. On a good day, I run a kilometer in roughly 4 minutes without chakra enhancements. Today is a very bad day. We make it back to his horse though, so that's all that matters.

* * *

I am past caring that we are probably a public hazard as we race through the streets of Kakunodate. Hiruyasu-oji has been getting...I can't say that he's worse, as he's acting as though this is just a normal ride, despite our disheveled appearance, but I know it.

I can feel his blood under my hands. I'm sitting side saddle in front of him my hand over his wound so that his wounds are hidden, can feel the bandages not working well enough, but I am dressed in red. No one would ever notice, not at the speed we are going.

"Who's the palace doctor?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "Doesn't matter."

We tear past the palace gates, but he pulls the horse down to a walk as we enter the garden walkways. "It does matter." I whisper. He doesn't respond.

There's a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead no matter how much he tried to hide his pain. _Does the imperial doctor even use chakra?_ "It is more dangerous inside the palace than outside." He mutters. "Please be careful." And I nearly slide off of the horse in shock. _What? Did he just-_ He chuckles. "Did you think I was so inhumane?" _No-oh very well. I thought you were a snake, but you seem to be a man after all._

We sweep into his gardens, up the path. He tosses the reins to a retainer, the motion causing his wounds to open a little more, but he doesn't act like it concerns him. "Hiruyasu-oji." Retainer Abe hurries forwards. "Your honored Chichi-ue has been looking for you."

The edge of irritation in his steely eyes sharpens angrily. "He did not say that he would be visiting." Hiruyasu-oji mutters under his breath. "Is he inside the west wing?" He asks, a little louder.

"Ah, yes, of course, Oji-sama." Retainer Abe bows, but his eyes are still fixed on me. "If Lady Inuzuka would come this way for-"

"Lady Inuzuka is going nowhere." Hiruyasu-oji wraps an arm around my shoulder, his long sleeves hiding the shallow cuts on his arms. "Except with me." He can't let go of me at the moment. One, because I am the only thing holding him upright, he's shaking like a leaf, and two, his milling crowd of retainers would notice his wounds if I stepped away.

Retainer Abe bows. "Of course, Oji-sama." _Is this what it means to be crown prince? No one ever questions your decisions?_

They have ignored that my sleeves are basically ripped off, that we both look like we fell into a lake not half an hour ago, and that he's about to collapse any moment now.

* * *

The Daimyo is sitting inside the front room of the pagoda when we step inside. Seiya-san is with him, and as we enter, he looks up at us with concern and fear in his eyes. "Chichi-ue." Hiruyasu-oji attempts to kneel, but I stubbornly refuse to budge. If he lets go of me, I'm not sure that he'll be able to get up again. There's no measure of respect worth more than his life.

"Kageyoshi-sama." I murmur, and bow forwards very shallowly. Out of the corner of my eye, Seiya-san shudders, the butterflies in his hairpin jangling.

"Yasino." The Daimyo sets his teacup down, and with a wave of his hand, the retainers and handmaids disappear out the door. "Where were you?" The look on his face is thunderous.

"I was with Ni-Haha-ue's outing." Hiruyasu-oji doesn't look up. "We were attacked-"

There's a loud crack as the man before us slaps the table. "And you came home alone? Where are Asahano and Consort Ine?" _He didn't ask about his older son at all..._ _and Hiruyasu-oji is right in front of him._ "If they are hurt." The Daimyo shakes his finger in Hiruyasu-oji's direction. "If there are any problems, If Asahano is injured-" Hiruyasu-oji's eyes are closed, but I can feel his legs shaking. _What is this family?_ "You will wish your mother never gave birth to you."

"Begging your pardon, Kageyoshi-sama." I murmur, my eyes staring straight ahead, because if I look at this man I might actually strangle something, and I cannot afford that. "The attackers are dead, and no one was injured except for-"

"Except for Lady Inuzuka." Hiruyasu-oji interrupts.

"And Hiruyasu-oji." I finish my statement, and nearly glare at him. _Is pretending to be strong really that important to you?_ "That is why we arrived back faster than everyone else."

The Daimyo doesn't even turn. "Then perhaps, as the eldest, he should have made sure that his siblings were fine. There could be more attackers." And then, with a swirl of ornate gold sleeves, he disappears around the doorway. "Prepare horses! Find Consort Ine's party!" The retainers all about take their leave as well.

Hiruyasu-oji's legs give out on him, and Seiya-san rushes forwards. "Yasino-nii!" _They are brothers then. Close. As they should be._

* * *

We manage to wrestle Hiruyasu-oji up two flights of stairs and into his bed. "I'm sorry, Yasino-nii." Seiya-san murmurs. "Chichi-ue insisted that he wait for you to come back. I couldn't dissuade him."

Hiruyasu-oji winces. "It's not your fault."

"What happened?" Seiya-san turns to me as he attempts to pull off his brother's shoes. Hiruyasu-oji lets him without a murmur of protest.

"As you heard." I murmur. "We were attacked." I grab his arm. "Find the imperial doctor. Hiruyasu-oji is injured."

Seiya-san shakes his head. "That's not going to work. Yasino-nii is-" _Is what?_

"Find Chiriku." Hiruyasu-oji orders, eyes closed. "I trust him to help me."

Seiya-san's eyes are pleading, but his brother's cannot see them. "Yasino-nii, are you sure I should leave you alone here? You'll be fine?" There is something more than concern about his injuries, but I don't know what I'm missing. I don't know _why_ it is.

"I'll be perfectly safe." _He said safe. He didn't say his injuries would be fine._ Hiruyasu-oji murmurs, his hand finding mine. "Lady Inuzuka will stay." I don't like how he's assumed that I would simply sit with him, but the truth is that I wouldn't have left before I made sure that he's actually found a healer anyway.

Seiya-san casts his pleading eyes at me. "Please," He says, taking my other hand. "Protect my bother with your life. Fire Country needs him."

I nod, and Seiya-san clatters down the hallway. _There's no reason Hiruyasu-oji needs protecting, right?_

I settle for a different question, instead of prying into his personal business. "Who's Chiriku?"

The corner of his mouth tilts up into a crooked smile, and it is the first time I've seen him _actually_ happy. "He's a monk."

"He'll be able to help you more than the imperial doctor?" _Why do you not want a doctor to begin with? Why are you requesting a monk? These aren't your last rites being read to you, for heaven's sake._

He cracks open a steely eye. "The imperial doctor, depending on which one you find, might poison me slowly, or poison me quickly." He shrugs, but then winces. "I'd be dead either way."

"What?" _You're the Crown Prince. They wouldn't dare. They wouldn't. Would they?_

His eye slides shut, and his grip on my hand becomes almost suffocating. "They happen to be under my dear Ni-Haha-ue's payroll." He murmurs. "It is a problem."

Consort Ine...has two sons. And Hiruyasu-oji is before all of them. "Who would inherit the throne without you?" I have a sinking feeling in my stomach that I know exactly who would. _Asahano-san. The Daimyo's favorite son._ And the attack...the attackers had not headed towards me.

I'd made myself a target; Kakashi had made himself a target, but we weren't the ones targeted. The one attacking me hadn't even tried really hard to kill me. _I shouldn't have been able to kill him._

 _This wasn't about me. Or at least, it wasn't entirely about me._

His mouth curls upwards in a self deprecating smile. "Why, dear Asahano-chan of course." His eyes are alight with something that looks like madness, but it could also be grief. "Who else would it be?"

"But he's your brother." I do not mean to say this aloud. I don't...but I do.

He laughs, the sound turning into coughs, his hand retreating back to his side. "It means very little." He turns away. "I ought to have been your host. Your papers were read at my request."

 _What? I thought Asahano-san...He saw me in Konoha._ "But Asahano-san...he was the one to host me when I arrived, Hiruyasu-oji." I don't understand anything about my perceptions anymore.

"Yasino." He turns back to me. "Call me Yasino." He demands rather imperiously. "You've earned the right." But his face is no longer welcoming, and it's clear that his mind has gone back to the thought of his younger brother. "Yes. He begged Chichi-ue for the job after I'd already offered. I was...less than charismatic." Clearly, this is a sore point for him.

 _Anyone who's met him and Asahano-san only once knows that Asahano-san's the more human of the two. But perhaps it's not so._ "Then," I murmur. "You were the one who was willing to consider my reforms?"

"Who else?" He asks, rather wryly. "Who else would care, Lady Inuzuka? My younger brothers?"

"Hana." It only feels right that if I ought to call him Yasino-oji, that he calls me Hana. "I'm not really a lady anyway, Yasino-oji."

The corner of his mouth turns upwards. "No." He muses. "As your guard says, you're a soldier."

We lapse into silence.

* * *

"Yasino-oji?" A tall monk with heavy eyebrows appears from the hallway. "Seiya-oji said that you were injured."

Yasino-oji pushes himself up into a sitting position. "Chiriku-san."

"Lie back down." Chiriku-san moves about, setting out ink and brushes. _Oh. So he's a ninja as well. I shouldn't have worried._ "You really should learn to take care of yourself better, Yasino-oji."

"I didn't think she would actually stage a murder attempt on a public outing." He grimaces as Chiriku-san unbinds the hasty bandages that I'd set, and shakes out the cloth. "Not my murder anyway." It implies that he thinks someone else might have been murdered. I had no idea that he stepped into the outing because he'd been afraid of someone else's murder. These aren't the actions of an irresponsible man. _He's actually very thoughtful._

"You shouldn't have been so stupid as to hold onto that belief. There aren't many things she isn't capable of doing." Chiriku-san stares at the cloth for a moment, and then turns to me. "Is this yours?"

I wince upon seeing it. The sleeve is shredded, but the howling black wolf is unmistakable. "Yes." _I'm so sorry everyone. It looks beyond repair._

"You did a good job." He murmurs. "I don't think Yasino-oji would have survived the trip back to the palace without you." Chiriku-san turns back to draw a seal over Yasino-oji's side.

I smile ruefully. "I've had a lot of practice."

Yasino-oji stops Chiriku-san, before he starts hand signs. "Lady Inuzuka is injured as well."

"I'm fine." My hand's stopped hurting. It hasn't hurt for a while now. "It's nothing more than a scratch."

"It wasn't a scratch." Yasino-oji argues from his reclining position. "It was quite deep."

Chiriku-san turns to me. "Let's see it anyway. Hand injuries are particularly difficult to heal if problems arise."

I dither for a moment, but it's clear that Yasino-oji will refuse treatment until I unwrap the injury. I untie the knot and let the silk gather in my good hand. _That...was not what I expected this injury to look like._ I'd said it was a scratch because I didn't want anyone to worry about it, but right now, it actually does look like a scratch. I'd assumed it stopped hurting because the nerves were too frazzled to continue their assault, not that the cut on my hand had nearly healed.

"I assume this is not what it looked like before?" Chiriku-san frowns. "It seems as though my feelings were correct." He takes the silk from my hands. "This is a very special piece of cloth."

"No it-" It is special to me, this furisode because it was a part of my ascension, but it has no _literally magical_ powers.

"There is something of the divine about your outfit." He murmurs, but turns back to healing Yasino-oji's wounds. "It would appear that the gods may decide to show their hands in the world of men once more."

 _The only god I know is...Okami. The Inuzuka are his descendants, and I have prayed to him more than once._ I look down at my hand again. _If you are responsible...for healing me, and saving Yasino-oji's life, then I thank you._

Chiriku-san finishes his work, and with a few more admonishments, he leaves the room. His measured footsteps, slow and assured, are the last things I hear of him.

* * *

"Horsie?" A little girl appears from around the door. "Horsie! You're back!" She leaps towards Yasino-oji's bed. "Horsie play with me?"

Yasino-oji raises a hand to brush his hand through her heavy bangs. "Not at the moment, Naho-chan." He murmurs. "Your horsie is disabled at the moment."

Her face falls. "Why hurt?" She asks as she pulls herself up onto his bedside. "Why?"

"Bad people." He smiles at her, the brightest smile I've seen from him yet, though his eyes seethe with emotions that I cannot name. "But don't worry, the bad people are taken care of, and your horsie will be able to play with you soon." _Unless Consort Ine manages to assassinate you, you mean._

She giggles at him. "That's good. Horsie should always defeat bad people." She spread her arms wide. "Horsie is stronger than a hundred tigers."

He sighs. "Horsie had a lot of help, from the lady over there." He gestures at me. "If Lady Inuzuka hadn't been a part of the boating party, I wouldn't have made my way back."

Naho-chan turns to me with a smile that only a child unwise to the struggles and grievances of the world could muster. "Thank you!" She leans forward to kiss my cheek. "Naho-chan needs to keep Horsie." She's waving her hands about. "Naho-chan has only Horsie otherwise would be lonely."

"Naho-chan?" An older looking matron pokes her head around the door, and bows to both Yasino-oji and I. "Hiruyasu-oji, milady, forgive me." She turns back to Naho-chan. "You know you oughtn't distract Hiruyasu-oji when he's with someone else."

Naho-chan giggles again. "But is just my Horsie."

"Naho-chan!" The older woman admonishes. "What have I said about calling Hiruyasu-oji that name?"

"It's alright, Senu-san." Yasino-oji waves a hand in Naho-chan's direction. "I am perfectly content to be Naho-chan's horsie."

The old woman and the young girl disappear out the door.

"My ward." Yasino-oji says at last, in answer to my unspoken question. "My cousin." _She must be the daughter of one of his mother's relatives. He would not call anyone else cousin._

 _And she loves him like she loves the sun, vibrant and delighted by his presence._ To know that he let a three year old call him 'Horsie' and that she probably did ride on his back like a horse, is to know that he is infinitely more human than he'd first appeared. The thought unsettles me further.

* * *

Kakashi returns to me before the royal party. I'm still sitting by Yasino-oji's bedside, Seiya-san having finally returned not ten minutes before Kakashi steps through the door. "My Lady." He bows deeply in my direction. "Permission to speak to you in private."

I rise. "Well, let's go then."

We step out onto the balcony, and he leans towards me. "I killed the last attacker. They were nuke-nin from Kiri."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Oh really." I murmur, softly enough that no one in the other room can hear us. "I didn't realize that the Mokuton has traveled all the way to Kiri." _Think. What was the last wielder of Mokuton called? It's no use. I can't remember. He had so many names. Tengo...Tanso...Yama-something. The more important thing is that he's definitely not dead._

He winces. "I'll tell you about it later, but for right now we need to go with that story."

It _bothers_ me to let Danzo get off for this, but we are in the palace, and I have no real leverage against him. I'm not even supposed to know that ROOT is an entity. If I have no concrete proof of anything, and Kakashi isn't willing to corroborate my story, I look mad. _How does Danzo still have a good reputation after everything he's done? Right. Because he's buried everyone who is willing to speak otherwise._ "Yasi-Hiruyasu-oji thinks that this attack was a murder attempt." I offer at last. "On him."

Kakashi draws a sharp breath. His voice drops ever softer. "It was." _Danzo is the head of ROOT. Consort Ine is the one who has the Imperial Doctors on her payroll._

"He thinks it's Consort Ine's plan." The implications, I don't want to think about. _Who is Consort Ine? Who was she before she became the Daimyo's first consort? How did she ever contact Danzo? How does she hold so much power in court?_

This is not _normal._ The Daimyo's wife ought to have more power in court than a mere consort. And Yasino-oji...he ought to have the soft power of his mother behind him even if his father didn't think much of him. He should not be languishing in bed with a haphazard healing as a result of an assassination attempt on his life. Madame Shimiji spent most of her days...in Konoha.

Far from the capital. _Yasino-oji is alone._ The thought unsettles me.

"Let me speak about this incident should the Daimyo ask." Kakashi whispers. "You are my lady. We still have to keep up pretenses." This reminds me what I'm here for. _I am here for the ninth district. Not the petty palace squabbles._ And yet, and yet, I'm already in too deep.

I've already seen the humanity of one prince, and the inhumanity of one of the consorts. It casts all of her children as suspected accomplices of her crime. There's a raw and burning anger in my veins. _Who are you, Asahano-san? And why did you decide to host me?_

"You will tell me everything." I frown at him. "But first I'm going back inside to make sure that there is actually no one left to kill the crown prince."

I walk back in, reconsidering everything that I knew of Yasino-oji. _He'd stopped the horse the first time we met. He did care if someone died. And I yelled at him, so of course he didn't act polite with me the next time we met. And now...he's behaving like a human instead of a nettle._

 _The Royal Family doesn't make any sense. Who are they really?_

* * *

The Daimyo's party arrives, bustling into the bottom floor of the pagoda. Seiya-san flinches. "We're all in hot water again." He moans, running his hands through his hair.

"Nonsense." Yasino-oji pushes himself upright, and attempts to climb out of bed. "I'll speak to Chichi-ue. This has nothing to do with you."

"Sit back down." I hiss. "You'll reopen your injuries."

He looks at me with bemused gray eyes. "I have to go down, Lady Inuzuka. It would be impolite to linger when Chichi-ue is in residence below."

"Yasino!" The roar comes from downstairs. Clearly, the Daimyo is angry.

One of the Daimyo's many retainers hurries up the steps. "Hiruyasu-oji, Kageyoshi-sama has requested that you present yourself to Consort Ine and himself immediately." He bows forwards ninety degrees for Yasino-oji, but ignores everyone else in the room.

"I'll be down directly, Isamu." Yasino-oji straightens up, and Seiya-san takes one of his arms, supporting him on the injured side.

The walk down the stairs is slow and painful for him. I see it in every tremble of his legs. Kakashi and I tag along behind the two princes as we all make our way down towards the wrath of the Daimyo.

The Daimyo is sitting, ridiculous headpiece and all, in one of the chairs in Yasino-oji's ornate front room. In the chair beside him, is Consort Ine, who looks vaguely distressed. Asahano-san has his hands on her shoulders. _He's close to his mother then._ The thought does not predispose me to him as his mother had plotted murder, and for all I know, is still plotting murder. Ai-hime is hugging herself in one of the other chairs, and all about are courtiers and retainers and guards and hangers on. Asuma stands behind the Daimyo with Chiriku-san, no expression on either of their faces."So kind of you to join us, _musuko._ " That mention of son is as chilly as winter rain.

"My apologies, Chichi-ue." Yasino-oji kneels slowly before his father, and presses his forehead to the tiled floor. "I was not enough." There's a raw edge of pain in his voice that has nothing to do with his physical wounds. _There was an attempt on his life today, and now he bows to both you and the woman who wanted to kill him._

 _And you do not even pretend to love him. Why? Why do you hate your eldest son so?_

"No." Kageyoshi-sama leans forwards. Consort Ine's arm in his grasp. He pushes the sleeve back until we see the scratch on her arm. "Your Ni-Haha-ue was injured." His gaze turns sharp. "I thought you said that there were no other injuries besides your own, Yasino."

There are words fighting to worm their way out of my mouth, but I have to keep a reign on my temper. I have to if I want to help more people, but my heart bleeds and my lips bleed, and it feels like the color is washing out of the world. _What good is bravery, what good is backbone, if I am not capable of using it?_

But the thought of failing also sickens me. _Danzo. If I fail, I go to Danzo._

"When we left, there were no other injuries besides Yasino-oji's and my own, Kageyoshi-sama." I say at last, my heart winning out over my head. I cannot keep the words back even if I have to go to Danzo. Even if I fail, I cannot watch the scene in front of me go on.

The Daimyo turns to me, for the very first time. "And you are?"

"Inuzuka Hana." I step forward, and bow. "I am currently a guest of your second son, Asahano-oji."

"You say that there were no other injuries?" He tilts his head, regarding me with watery dark eyes. "How do you explain Consort Ine's injuries then?"

"I would not know that." I reply, and resist the urge to fly into rage. _It's nothing more than a scratch. Your eldest son nearly died, and you are disciplining him over a scratch on your favorite consort?_ "As I last recalled, there were five attackers." I'm slipping back into mission report mode, because I doubt I'd be capable of keeping my voice at a normal pitch and volume. "Kakashi killed one of them rather easily, and was occupied with another two. I was locked in a fight with another one. The last was attacking Yasino-oji. At no point were Ai-hime, Asahano-oji or Consort Ine in immediate danger." I pause, wet my lips, and continue. "I killed my opponent. Kakashi killed another one of his. That left two attackers, one locked in battle with Kakashi, and another with Yasino-oji."

I close my eyes, picturing the scene. "Yasino-oji slipped on a patch of blood on the deck of the ship. The...nuke-nin from Kiri," The lie leaves a bad taste in my mouth. "Had raised his tanto to kill him, and I intervened."

"She blew him apart." Ai-hime sounds hysterical. "Sh-she, she's not human." The thought stings, but I am numb to it all.

Kakashi turns around to smile at her. "My lady is a shinobi. Of course she's human." His grip tightens on my shoulder. There's a limit to how much I can continue to insinuate before I make the Daimyo truly furious.

"Then how do you explain Consort Ine's injuries?" His displeasure with my explanation of the events is evident.

 _Your son nearly died._ But this injury of Consort Ine's, it's a fabrication that she's made. Her bullying is all too clear right now, but I can't implication her directly. "Yasino-oji nearly died." I say carefully. "Surely, it was not his job to die for Consort Ine's health." My statement is reasonable. It is impossible to ask that the Crown Prince die for a consort. Kageyoshi-sama does not continue to question the chain of events.

The Daimyo rises, his gaze cast over Yasino-oji's sweat covered face, his white lips, and shaking hands. "I see no difference." He says coldly. He steps forwards and offers his arm to Consort Ine, and his other arm to Ai-hime. "Come, I will ask the imperial doctors to diagnose your wounds." His gaze turns icy when it lands, once more, on Yasino-oji. "Another one of your failings then." He says to Yasino-oji. "Just like your mother." And then they sweep out of the pagoda, a cloud of chattering courtiers following.

Asahano-san pauses next to his brother as he passes. "Long live the crown prince." He whispers in Yasino-oji's ear, and I can see a bloodless face blanch further. I can see proud gray eyes fill with fear, and I feel myself on fire. But I keep a grip on my temper, because that is what ladies do, and I've made my bed already today.

Asahano-san strides from the room unharmed.

* * *

 **A.N.** This chapter is a role reversal of sorts. Yasino and Asahano and the plot around their characters grows...murkier at the same time that it lightens. Consort Ine is a cause for concern, and Kakashi and Hana have to wait for a bit before talking.

Rundown of the Princes So Far: Hiruyasu (Yasino First prince), has a grudge/problem with Asahano (Second Prince) and Consort Ine wants to murder him. Asahano (Hiruhitzen), Hana's host who's motives are becoming increasingly unclear. Morimo (Hirumori, Third Prince) Fighting buff, motives unclear. Tsuya (Hirutsugu, Fourth Prince) no input so far. Seiya (Fifth Prince, Hirusato), mother was a geisha, advises Hana about her plans, very close with Yasino. Hiruka (Sixth Prince, Kasano) a child, younger son of Consort Ine, once mistook Hana for a servant.

Thank you so much to rickrossed, tatanka96 (Yasino, the eldest prince, harbors zero feelings for Consort Ine, unless they be ones of hatred. That and Hana has been attempting to practice the explosion release. Sometimes it works.), fluffpenguin (The people in the capital do not recognize the people. Hana only does because of her unfortunate knowledge/paranoia regarding Danzo. That and this is actually a plot.), EverBear01 (More plot thickening. And yes, more people need to be straight about their intentions.), DuxTell (The Triplets are indeed doing something, but it doesn't have to do with Tora...as Tora is still in Konoha with Madame Shimiji.), hasan9206, B.O.B-MuckFanGirl1445 (I'm so glad you're enjoying things so far!), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), Cooked Ghost (Yeah, Tenzo's part in the timeline is a mess. We are to believe, that Tenzo quit ROOT after the mission regarding Kakashi's eye. Which takes place 3 years after Orochimaru's defection. Thus, Hana should be twelve when Tenzo quits ROOT...but it doesn't work out with everything else which is just aughhh.), Shion Lee, NightsBlackRose13, WhiteFang001 (The wait is over! Sort of.), n1ghtdr34m3r (Yeah, there's a story behind this that isn't entirely Danzo sitting around with the thoughts of: How shall I make Inuzuka Hana fail today.), libraryrockerr (The reactions of the court are largely that of shocked horror.), Rei a Wandering Shinigami, and guenaelle (Welcome to Bloodless! I'm glad you like it!) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	62. Kakunodate Arc: Nine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

Note: For the week of Thanksgiving (next week), updates will be slow as I spend time with my family.

* * *

Kakashi steps forwards to help Yasino-oji up. "It would be easier if I carry you up." He offers. _He's trampling on a proud man's dignity. Oh Kakashi...you can't do that. You should know by now._

Yasino-oji waves him off. "I do not need to be carried."

Kakashi steps back. "It's up to you." As Seiya-san moves forwards to support his brother, Kakashi turns back to me. "My lady." He's back before me in an instant. "Are you hurt? I smelled blood." _Your blood._ His eyes seem to say.

I'm sure he's seen the aftermath of my defense of Yasino-oji. _I wonder how he took the pieces of the corpse._ I muse. _Well, my secret's out now._

I offer up my hand for his perusal. "It was only a scratch, Kakashi."

He doesn't seem convinced, but he lets it go. We're still in public right now, after all. "Of course, my lady." He checks me for injuries casually, a hand against my shoulder, his eyes scanning my ripped clothing. He steps closer, and I can swear that he actually leans in slightly to check if there's the scent of fresh blood clinging to my clothing.

"I don't think this is so necessary." I murmur, and he jolts backwards. "If I were still bleeding, then I wouldn't be standing." _Actually, I would have bled out by now, so I'd be dead, but I don't need to say that._

He winces. "As you say."

We're following Yasino-oji and Seiya-san's path up the steps, when the front door bangs open. "Aniue!" A whirlwind seems to have burst into the room. "Aniue!"

I turn. It's Morimo-oji. "Yasino-oji needs to rest." I'm only asking that he be a little quieter, but it seems that he takes it as an offense.

"I'm here to see my Aniue." He strides forwards. He's really very tall. "And no one's ever going to stop me from seeing him today!"

I take a step back. "I wasn't going to stop you."

He's still moving forward aggressively, and Kakashi steps between us, a heavy air of disapproval between us. "Morimo-oji." It's only a word, but it's enough to stop Morimo-oji in his tracks.

He laughs awkwardly, a hand rubbing the back of his neck. "Ah, I'm sorry about that." His laughter dies away, and there's a hard look in his dark eyes. "I heard that Aniue was injured today."

"San-Aniue. Surely we can sit down and talk about this like men?" Seiya-san steps away from the stairs, his face pinched.

"Like men?" Morimo-oji scoffs. "Really." There's an edge of scorn to his voice that I dislike, though Seiya-san doesn't seem to be much offended by it. _Why is he upset about that phrase?_

"I am a man, and you are a man." He gestures to the chairs. "Sit down, San-Aniue, or I will be forced to be rude." His words may be pitched kindly, gently, without a hint of scorn or warning, but his eyes are hard and cold.

Morimo-oji sits. Hard. As if he'd never expected Seiya-san to show so much spine. "What did you need to tell me?"

"I am telling you that you need to pick your truth." Seiya-san slams his hands down on the table before Morimo-oji, the sharp crack echoing through the room. "You cannot straddle the fence any longer." His blue eyes icy, and his mouth pulled into a grim line. "Am I your brother? Is Yasino-nii your brother? Or is Asahano your brother?"

"How could you ask me something like that?" Morimo-oji gestures wildly, angrily. "You three are all my brothers, and so are Tsuya and Kasano!"

"Who are you going to back for the throne?" Seiya-san doesn't move, even though Morimo-oji nearly accidentally backhands him in the face. He doesn't even flinch. "Because I hate to tell you, but you can't make nice with everyone."

"Of course I think Ni-Aniue would serve the throne better." Morimo-oji declares hotly. "Aniue isn't well-"

"You'll commit treason?" Seiya-san leans forwards, and now they are nearly nose to nose, breathing hard, and angry with each other. "Because what you want is treason."

"I am not going to commit treason!" Morimo-oji shoves Seiya-san away from him, and he leaps to his feet, pacing the room. "You know that Aniue's been sick his entire life." He hands continue flailing as if he simply can't sit still. He strides towards one end of the room, and then doubles back, coiled tightly like a caged tiger. "How could I possibly wish the stupid political position on him? It will reduce him to a wreck within the year!" _Yasino-oji...has a history of illness? He seemed fine before though..._

"That is the throne that he was born for!" Seiya-san stands in the center of the room, and only his eyes flick back and forth to watch Morimo-oji move about. "He cannot possibly be denied it because of a childhood illness."

"But I can worry for him!" His heavy eyebrows are drawn fiercely together, thunderous, black, weighty. "Ni-Aniue doesn't have a history of sickness, he'll survive ten or twenty years on that Kami damned chair just fine."

"And as soon as he takes the throne, he'll kill us all." Seiya-san throws up his hands. "But of course, he won't kill _you_ so it won't matter. But he'll kill me, and he'll kill Yasino-nii just as easily as sitting down." Morimo-oji's stopped, his mouth ajar, and Seiya-san advances on him, his expression murderous. "Yasino-nii nearly _died._ He's still crown prince. _Use your damned head and think for a moment, Morimo._ If they don't have compunctions about killing him now, do you think Asahano will spare Yasino-nii when he's the Daimyo? You think that if Yasino-nii steps aside and lets him have the damned chair that everything will be fine again? You think that Asahano will ever sit easy on that chair if Yasino-nii is still alive?"

 _That...If Asahano-san does take the throne over Yasino-oji, then every bad decision he makes, every foot he puts down wrong, people will compare to Yasino-oji's hypothetical choice. If Asahano wants the throne, Yasino-oji has to cease to exist, before he sits down comfortably in the morning._

"It was a _murder attempt?_ " Morimo-oji sits down on the floor, his head on his hands. " _Ni-Aniue_ wanted to murder Aniue?" With every passing thought, I am more inclined to believe that Asahano-san had to know what his Haha-ue is planning, and that in a twisted way, he approves.

"I wouldn't know if Asahano had a hand in planning it." Seiya-san mutters. "But I wouldn't be surprised, if he was. No, use your head, Morimo. You have a brain between your ears, who do you _think_ it is?"

Morimo-oji's eyes widen. "You think it was Co-"

Seiya-san slaps a hand over his mouth. "For Kami's sake, don't say that out loud. We could all be thrown in prison."

"Both of you." The two of them freeze, like two children caught stealing red handed from the cookie jar. And there's Yasino-oji leaning heavily on the stairs. "Please stop arguing."

"Ahaha." Morimo-oji's the first to recover he laughs loudly and moves towards Yasino-oji. "Come on, Aniue, we were just joking around, there's no argument going on here."

Yasino-oji allows his third brother to help him over to a chair, but there's a patent look of skepticism on his face. "Sure. And I am our dear Ni-Haha-ue's favorite child."

"But she hates-"

"Oh dear Kami." Seiya-san interrupts Morimo-oji's confusion. "You dolt, please never finish that sentence."

"What did you say?" Morimo-oji turns.

Yasino-oji cuts him off, and sends me a rueful smile. "It might be kinder for you to leave the capital, Lady Inuzuka." He gestures to a chair for me. "You see, it's going to get bloody soon."

"I'm not afraid of a little blood." I sit down. "And I can't go back yet without what I came for." He might think that he's protecting me, but he doesn't know what I face if I go back.

I have another two weeks before Danzo wins. In past half a month, I've been unable to make headway, but I don't intend to spend the next two weeks doing nothing. Since I made a deal with the Devil, I refuse to go back empty handed. Else, I'd be stuck in his lair forever.

"No." Yasino-oji muses. "I don't suppose you're afraid of blood." There's a slightly perturbed look on his face. "Or death."

I consider it. _I don't want to die. I would not look for it._ But I am a shinobi. Death is a part of our lifestyle. "Not fear it, no." I concede, Kakashi's hands on my shoulders. "But I do not seek it either."

Yasino-oji sighs. "If only you'd shown up at a more opportune time."

Seiya-san frowns. "It may still be possible." He muses. "If we can make the papers a point of contention to work around _her_ plans..."

"No." Yasino-oji leans back in his chair, wincing. "It would not work. There's nothing I can do to win more favor from Chichi-ue." He's most likely referring to how he'd made a bid to host me before, and had been overridden by Asahano-san's own bid for me and the Daimyo's whims.

Morimo-oji blinks. "What's going on?"

Seiya-san chuckles. "Leave the politics to us, San-Aniue." They seem determined to put their differences aside when faced with Yasino-oji's continued emotional well being.

Morimo-oji rises. "I'm going to talk to Ni-Aniue. I can't believe that he knows nothing about this-I mean- _her_ plans."

"Stop." Yasino-oji's voice has taken on the haughty edge again. "Your Crown Prince commands you."

" _Aniue_." Morimo-oji turns around, his mouth set in a mulish line. "I'm sure I can get Ni-Aniue to change his mind. He's just confused right now, he'll come to his senses if I just tell him what he's doing wrong." _Naive. More so than I am._

 _Morimo-oji really had no ulterior motives after all. He's just...a brother to two men who are fighting each other, and he doesn't play politics._

From what I'd seen of court so far, I have no idea how he hasn't wound up dead long before this.

"Morimo." Yasino-oji summons a smile. "There's really no need. I'll speak to Asahano-chan personally, alright?" He leans forward, and takes Morimo-oji's free hand. "Each man to his strengths. If I require a champion, then there is no better brother than you. If you need someone to speak for you, then you may depend on me."

Morimo-oji doesn't look happy about it. "If you do intend to actually talk to Ni-Aniue." He concedes. "Then I'll not talk to him on my honor." He disappears out the door. _So the third prince loves both of his brothers, but he's easily swayed in his decisions, and it's easy to predict how he would react._

I rise as well. "I'll let you get some rest, Yasino-oji." _And the next time I arrive here, we will talk about all of your situations._ I bow in his direction. "You ought to, instead of focusing on hosting me."

"Be safe." He murmurs.

"Be careful." Seiya-san asks. "You'll be linked to us now."

He's trying to tell me that Consort Ine may have more people on her payroll. _She has the imperial doctors, and she definitely has her own ladies, attendants, and retainers. It's likely that she has Ai-hime and Asahano-san's as well. And unfortunately, I live with Asahano-san._ I smile, sharp and hard in the light of the setting sun. "We'll be careful." And then I set a hand on Kakashi's arm, and we walk back towards our rooms.

* * *

As soon as I cross the threshold, the Triplets mob me as one. "Hana! Hana! Hana!"

"What's wrong?" There's something off about them, a little extra tension in the air, and they'd prowled muddy paw prints all about Kakashi and I's belongings.

San's lips draw back in a snarl. "There was an intruder." _An intruder?_

"We chased him away." Ni interjects. "He didn't even get to come it."

"But he was suspicious." Ichi turns up his nose. "And we just got done chasing him away."

 _So Consort Ine is moving against us already._ I look up at Kakashi. _We need to talk._ I tap. If there are already intruders trying to snoop around our belongings we need to move away from here as soon as possible. It doesn't seem as though Consort Ine has shinobi attempting to intrude upon us though.

If the Triplets only remarked that the man existed, instead of the man is a shinobi, then it is largely possible that it was just a miscellaneous retainer who is now catching hell for letting three dogs stop him from breaking into our belongings.

"Good boys." I whisper, and bury my face in the ruff of fur around Ichi's neck. "I owe you three so much."

"Hana hurt?" Ni asks, nudging my shoulder with his nose.

"I'm fine." I reach a hand out for him, scratching behind his ears. "Other people got hurt though." He's probably just smelling the leftover scent of blood on me from Yasino-oji's wounds. My own have healed by...less than normal means. I am not sure that I should mention it to anyone.

Kakashi attempts to pet San. "Aren't you a nice-"

San's teeth snap together in thin air where his hand had been a moment before. "Irritant." He growls, tail sticking straight out.

"San!" I thwack him on the head. "Stop being so mean to him." I gather the three of them in a line before me, and stand, hands on my hips and pin them all with a disapproving look. "All three of you really need to stop needlessly antagonizing someone who could kill you all with both hands tied behind his back." I sigh. "Not to mention, Kakashi's my friend. You three are being very rude."

Ichi raises a paw. "He made you cry." He sniffs. "I don't care if you think we didn't know. I could smell it this morning."

"And for that I am very sorry." Kakashi replies. "Can we be friends?" He offers Ichi a hand.

Ichi turns his head away, but San raises a paw and taps Kakashi's hand with it. "I'm a good boy." He says. "So I listen to Hana."

Ni nudges Kakashi's other hand with a nose. "Do you have food?" He asks. "I'm hungry. Want food."

Ichi huffs and trudges off, clearly peeved by his brothers' actions. I let him go. _I can't ask him to change his behavior at the drop of a hat. He'll come around. His brothers already have, after all._

* * *

"Kakashi?" I call as he attempts to escape me after we've eaten dinner. "We need to have a discussion, remember? The nuke-nin from Kiri?"

He freezes, and then turns slowly as if resigned. _Did you think I would have forgotten about what I saw?_ The thought's a rather amusing one. _I might be an Inuzuka, but we are not as scatterbrained as we appear to be._ "I'm going to draw a sound proofing seal." He mumbles. "Let me get a brush and ink."

I pick up the copy of Icha Icha still lying on the table. "Meanwhile, I think I'm going to hold your book hostage just in case you decide that we didn't have this conversation before."

"You wound me, Hana-chan!" He singsongs and moseys over to the other room. He knows that I can do nothing to his beloved Icha Icha Paradise.

 _I would believe you, but...you have a habit of running away from things. Is it so hard to believe that you would run from this as well?_

He comes back with several sheets of paper, two brushes, and an inkwell. I lean forward. I've never actually seen anyone _use_ sealing before. I'd met Jiraiya briefly, and he is an acknowledged sealing master, but he hadn't used any.

The most I know about it is how to draw storage seals, which are inherently simple, and I just copied a storage seal from one of my books, and duplicate it when I need it. Kakashi seems to be concentrating, but his handwriting is terrible, so I have no idea what kanji he's using, he writes four concentric rings, and then slams his hand down into the center.

The seal spreads off of the page and binds both of us inside its smallest circle. Kakashi's chakra is...definitely Raiton-natured. Electric. I shake my head. "We need to talk about those nuke-nin from Kiri."

"As you guessed." Kakashi replies, serious for once. "They weren't nuke-nin from Kiri."

"They're from Konoha then?" I ask. "The Mokuton is the Shodaime's kekkei genkai, isn't it?" _We've killed Konoha shinobi, then? Two for each of us._ The thought doesn't frighten me as much as it should. _No. ROOT has no part of Konoha within it._

"Yes." Kakashi seems to have come to the same realization. His face is somewhat paler. "You have to stay silent about this."

I ignore his request. "They weren't under the command of the Hokage, were they?" I lean forward. "You know who they are, and who is commanding them." _Kakashi isn't Danzo's henchman. He hadn't been, and he isn't now._

"What do you know?" He asks, leaning forward as well, eye searching for something, anything all in my face.

And I have to say something. "My cousin, Inuzuka Gaku." I reply. "He lost his memory, remember?" I pick up the brush on the table between us. _What can I say? I don't know what ROOT is called, or-I will just tell him what Cousin Gaku told me._ "A few months back, he regained parts of his memories. There was a seal on his tongue. He couldn't tell me everything, but he could say that he was a part of the an _organization._ " I sit back down. "I'm just connecting dots at this point."

"Please stop." Kakashi looks-there's a sheen of sweat rising on his forehead. He pulls the mask down. "They were here to protect _interests._ "

"Like I said, I can only assume that Cousin Gaku's a part of the same organization as the one we ran into this afternoon, because there aren't multiple shady organizations inside Konoha." I steeple my fingers together over the table, and frown. _How should I proceed?_ "They aren't under the command of the Hokage, but there are precious few people who can create entire organizations under the Hokage's nose and escape unnoticed, I would guess only the Hokage's Council has that power...and Elder Shimura is the only one who commands another sector of ANBU."

Kakashi's hand darts out, and he very carefully presses a finger over my mouth. "You really are a prodigy." He murmurs. "Please, stop right there. There is nothing else you need to know. Do your best to forget all about this."

 _So, you are only telling me this so that you can blunt my curiosity, and I can go back to what you thought was obliviousness. A pity that I was never oblivious. What I really want to know was why Danzo felt the need to deploy ROOT today._ "Does ignorance make me safe?" I ask, gently, gently, because he'd bolt otherwise. "Because Elder Shimura seems plenty interested in me already." He was there to see it. Danzo wants something from me, but I have no intention of finding out what it is.

"You already had your suspicions." He says, and runs both hands through his hair in something of frustration and something else. "And no, I suppose ignorance doesn't make you safe. Your assumptions are correct."

"Why were they here?" I don't believe that they were here simply for a squabble between princes, not even at the behest of the mysterious Consort Ine.

His hand makes an abortive movement to his face. "There were...circumstances involved." He's not trying to run away, but it's in his nature to hide.

I've pulled enough concession from him today. "Alright."

"Now, that that's over." His eye smile is about fifty percent plastic. "I assume you'll tell me about your kekkei genkai now?"

"Tou-san was born in Iwa." I say at last. _He does deserve to know._ "I inherited the Explosion Release from him."

"And your training injury..." He still staring at my hands, specifically, the same hand as the one that had four ripped nails. "So that's what it was. Explosions."

"Moving on from that." I pull a sheet of paper towards me, and start writing. "We need to talk about how we are going to navigate court."

"Yasino-oji has to support us." Kakashi picks up the other brush and twirls it around his fingertips.

I sketch a magnolia flower. "I saved his life, he owes us." And he seems like he has enough honor to understand that. "And if Yasino-oji sides with us, then Seiya-san will as well." I draw an iris next to the magnolia.

"That puts us in direct opposition to our host." Kakashi draws something that might be an orchid on the other side of the page. "A problem."

"We need to move out of here as soon as possible." I murmur. "Our belongings weren't safe. What if the Triplets had wandered off? They aren't guard dogs."

Kakashi nods. "I'll pack."

"It seems as though Morimo-oji is conflicted and easily manipulated." I draw two pentagons that might pass for Laurel flowers in between them.

"We know nothing about the Fourth Prince." Kakashi adds, and writes the character for four on a different sheet of paper.

"We can assume that the sixth prince will follow his elder brother and his mother." And that's the sticking point. "We need to figure out who Consort Ine was before she became consort, and how she became consort to begin with."

"The second prince and the crown prince are very close in age." Kakashi muses. "It is quite odd."

"The Daimyo seems to have a problem with women." I frown and think about it. "We know that he has eight consorts and Madame Shimiji. We also know that the Eighth Consort, Seiya-san's Haha-ue is a woman from the Willow District."

"The elder princes are rather close in age." Kakashi taps the end of his brush against the edge of the table in irritation. "The Daimyo has at least six children with five different women within a span of four years." _Yasino-oji, Asahano-san, Morimo-oji, Seiya-san, Tsuya-oji, and Ai-hime. And that's only including one princess. I am sure that there are others that we have not met._

 _He's right. That seems less like the Daimyo is a typical philanderer and more like he has a legitimate problem._ Polygamy among shinobi happens, but not like this. "I don't even think it's normal even for nobility."

"We'll say easily influenced by women." Kakashi sighs, and draws a heart on the page on Asahano-san's side. "Clearly he has issues with favoritism as well."

"Consort Ine has the Daimyo's ear." I draw a string of pearls on Asahano-san's side.

"So we may rely on Yasino-oji and Seiya-san, who both have direct reasons to help us." Kakashi sets his brush down. "And since they are caught up in a dispute with Asahano-san, we need to make sure that they win."

I nod. "And we need to learn more about the situation in court." I frown. "I'll go back to visit Yasino-oji and Seiya-san tomorrow to beg one of them to house us. If you could seal our belongings so that no one can get in, that would be good."

"I need to get close to the twelve ninja guardians." Kakashi says suddenly. "I haven't been able to speak privately with Asuma, but I need to do it."

 _Asuma. Right. He's still a loyal Konoha agent and the second son of the Hokage. He'll be willing to help us with the ninth district, and he has an invested interest in keeping Yasino-oji crown prince, I assume._

"I'll try to find you a way to talk to him in private. Perhaps I'll ask that Morimo-oji be invited over for a spar, Asuma seems to follow Morimo-oji around fairly frequently, you'll be able to talk to him while I'm impressing Morimo-oji with more 'cool' ninja tricks." I pick up the pages that we'd been drawing on, and with a quick application of Doton chakra, reduced them to dust. "Let's get some sleep."

Kakashi nods, and a quick flare of chakra later, the seal releases.

* * *

"And so you see, I would be greatly obliged if I could move out of the Orchid Garden that I find myself in." I'm sitting on a balcony on the second floor of Yasino-oji's pagoda with Seiya-san. San has elected to come with me, Ichi and Ni decided to stay behind to guard the papers. Or as Ichi put it, he's staying behind to guard the papers and the idiot one who thinks too much of food. Kakashi has also stayed behind to meticulously seal everything that we owned, and then clean out everything in our living spaces so that we cannot be said to be bad guests.

San, the adorable goofball that he is, is dozing on my feet.

"I wouldn't be able to do it myself." Seiya-san muses. "I don't have enough pull in court to stand against Asahano, if he were to demand that you come back." He leans back, and fiddles with the hanging tassel on the end of his flute. "And San-Aniue wouldn't even try, four sentences from Asahano and he'll capitulate."

"Yasino-oji?" I ask. _I can hope-_

Seiya-san shakes his head. "I wouldn't ask. Yasino-nii..." He looks around, and leans in to whisper in my ear. "Yasino-nii lost too much blood yesterday. He's relapsed, and he'll be bedridden for at least the rest of the day."

I frown. "Can you explain? Yesterday, you said that Yasino-oji was sick before?"

Seiya-san sighs. "It's always been this way. And no one knows what sort of illness Yasino-nii has, but from what I've been told ever since he was young he's been bedridden for days at a time." He runs a hand through the end of his high tail and looks mutinously over the landscape of the garden down below. "When we were children the courtiers never quite believed that he was really sick, because given enough motivation, most of the time he could drag himself out of bed." He turns back to me. "But make no mistake about it, Yasino-nii was sick, and now he's relapsed so we need to make sure that he rests. He can't possibly get into another fight with Asahano right now."

"Then..." I trail off. "We seem to be fresh out of princes." _I guess I have to stay in the Orchid Garden after all, and hope that there aren't any snakes._

"No." Seiya-san sets his flute down. "We can still ask Tsuya-kun." The fourth prince. _Sixteen years old. From what I understand, son of the third consort._

"Would he-" I don't really know how to ask in polite court speak. "Would he be willing to help us?" So I settle for being myself instead. _There aren't many times where getting straight to the point is bad, but court seems to be full of those times._

"He's probably the best suited to helping us." Seiya-san smiles. "I'll ask him, but he's known for being impartial and not afraid to stand up for himself in court, and any attempts to pry you away should he accept you would be difficult unless Chichi-ue decides to give a direct order, and that would look bad."

"My lady." Kakashi appears again by my shoulder.

Seiya-san doesn't so much as blink. "Kakashi-san, it's really good to see you." He stands up. "It would soothe my mind if you could stay with Yasino-nii while your lady and I head down to talk to Tsuya-kun about your new living quarters."

Kakashi turns wordlessly to me, a question in his eyes.

I nod, slightly. "Yasino-oji cannot die."

Kakashi bows once, and disappears up the stairs. "As my lady commands."

* * *

"You want me to commit to stealing Ni-Aniue's guest?" Tsuya-oji sets down his scroll of classical poetry, and stares at Seiya-san with righteous disbelief in his amber eyes.

"No." Seiya-san leans forwards, setting his hands on either side of the small writing desk. "I am asking you to take pity on a lady in a snake pit and help her out. You know that Ni-Aniue's a charmer, but he never speaks straight like you do." _Subtle flattery._

 _I suppose Seiya-san had to learn that art to survive._

"Seiya." Tsuya-oji holds up a hand. "If it's just that, why don't you host Lady Inuzuka?"

"I can't." Seiya-san draws back and starts pacing the room. "It's impossible for me to host anyone in my single room here in the palace."

Tsuya-oji is not impressed. "So host her in your rooms outside of the palace then." _Seiya-san doesn't live inside the palace? He has rooms outside the palace?_

"Those are in-" Seiya-san stops before Tsuya-oji. "Oh come on Tsuya, you know where those are. That's no fit place for a lady."

Tsuya-oji raises an eyebrow at his elder brother. "I must confess, your den of sin is no fit place for a lady." Seiya-san's face takes on a flushed hue, and Tsuya-oji continues blithely on. "Not that I care who you kiss, Seiya, but I do admit that the Willow District is hardly a place for a lady." _The fifth prince still owns a house in the Willow District? Does he patronize the brothels there?_

Seiya-san sags with relief, and perhaps, something else. "So you agree then, you'll host-"

"Forgive me." Tsuya-oji glances in my direction. "But considering the nature of her papers, Lady Inuzuka has already been to Yoshiwara, which is much like the Willow District anyway. So I don't think she'd mind if you hosted her down there."

"The Willow District must be far from here." I turn to face Tsuya-oji. It had to be far, if only because Kakashi and I did not pass it on our way in through the market. I make sure to not seem as though I'm demanding something from him. "And normally, I suppose I wouldn't mind, it's just-" I pause for a brief moment. "I hear that Yasino-oji isn't feeling well again." I say at last. "I would like to be able to hear news of him when I can." _That and I absolutely can't live outside the palace complex, I'll never be able to get what I want done if I'm so far away._

"You're worried for Aniue." Tsuya-oji regards me for a very long moment, as if he'd met something that he's never seen before. "No woman has ever been concerned for Aniue after merely two weeks of knowing him."

I shrug. "We nearly drown together, Tsuya-oji." _He nearly died in front of me._ "It makes sense that I would care if he lived or died if I was the last person to save his life." _He's also my one ticket out of Danzo's lair. I can't possibly lose him._

"Alright." Tsuya-oji picks up his scroll once more. "I'll hide you here. Consider it your one favor for saving Aniue's life. Seiya, it would be best if you take Lady Inuzuka into the city while I send people to transport her belongings, so it does not seem like she is running away from Ni-Aniue."

I kneel down next to San. "You'll go report back to Ni and Ichi that they shouldn't attack the people that go with you?" I look up at the two princes who seem to have bartered me between them without a second thought. "Tsuya-oji, San has to go with the person that you send, otherwise Ichi and Ni will attack them."

"You speak to him?" He looks puzzled.

"It is a clan trait." I reply, a hand tracing the tip of the fang on my left cheek. "Everyone in my clan speaks to dogs."

* * *

"Where are we going?" I ask Seiya-san as we weave through the bustling crowd of people.

"My den of sin." He responds, and then looks despondent for a moment. "I don't know how shinobi take sin."

I laugh at the thought of it. "Seiya-san, we're shinobi." I walk a little faster so that I'm beside him instead of behind him. "All shinobi sin in some way or another, and most of us in more than several ways according to civilians." It feels like he wants to confess something, but he doesn't say a word.

We're in a glitzy portion of the city now. _Glamour. Lights. It's like Yoshiwara._ I look around, at the tea houses, the bathhouses, the buildings that can only be brothels, the storefronts, the musicians playing on street corners, firecrackers in big red lines, the giggling group of maiko and a passing samurai and every denomination of class pass us by.

Seiya-san pulls me into a large building. "Welcome to Misono-za." _This is...a kabuki theatre?_ There's the sound of a zither and a koto duet, interspersed by the sound of drums, and a man's high voice singing.

My eyes adjust to the dimly lit atmosphere, as he pulls us past the various stages and sets and racks and racks of costumes all the way into the heart of the theatre building.

"Darling." We've stopped before what clearly looks like the entrance to a suit of rooms. The man by the vanity turns towards us as Seiya-san steps in. "I'm so glad you're back. You've been away for days now." _He called Seiya-san 'darling.' So that's what he meant by sin._ Shinobi, as a general rule, do not consider love a sin. _I suppose civilians are different that way too._

"Renya." Seiya-san moves forward, bringing me with him. "This is Lady Inuzuka, can you hide her from a search if one comes through?"

Renya-san leans forward and kisses Seiya-san on the cheek. "Of course. Anything for you." He tilts my chin up lightly with two fingers, and scrutinizes my facial features. "You'd make a beautiful looking boy, my lady." He murmurs, hazel eyes curious and lively. "Certainly a young bishounen."

"I've got hair too long to be a boy." It spills past my shoulders, and I am truly disappointed that I will have to cut it. "But if you could trim it-"

"Oh nonsense." Renya-san takes me by the hand and installs me in front of his mirror, pulling various powders from the drawers with practiced ease. "I am a man who cross dresses as a woman onstage with long hair in my daily life, and no one questions whether or not I'm male when I'm offstage and when I'm onstage everyone thinks I'm a woman." He winks at me. "It's all in the contouring." He powders my face. "A male face has sharper edges, so we'll bring that out a bit more, although I suppose you'll grow up to have a chiseled jawline and a chin sharp enough to be a knife." He sighs. "It makes me envious. It really does."

Seiya-san smiles, and sets a hand on his shoulders. "Don't go too overboard, Renya."

"I live to please, my darling." And now he's teasing my hair up into a high tail, with practiced ease and a firm hand on the comb. "That is, after all, what a performer lives for."

"You're a performer?" I've never actually met a singer for kabuki theatre before. "What type?"

The corners of his mouth tilt upwards in a wild smile. "I'm Umei Sakae onstage." _Fated to be prosperous? That sounds very much...like a stage name._ He whispers in my ear. "But I'm just Tanaka Renya offstage."

"You mean." Seiya-san murmurs as Renya-san moves over to rustle through his wardrobe. "You're the most successful Kabuki singer in the entirety of the Willow District."

"And I am ever so grateful that no man can buy my bed anymore, Darling." Renya-san grimaces. "It is always difficult to explain when I am not who they think I am." He gestures for me to come over. "We've got some smaller costumes..." He pulls out a white under-kimono, spins me around and ties the obi expertly. Then he throws me a set of black hamaka pants and a blue-green haori. "Put those on over there." He gestures towards a folding screen,

"And I will think of who you are and why you are here." Seiya-san twirls his flute around his fingers.

"The haori is a bit big..." I step back out from around the screen.

"You are Saito Ishiro." Seiya-san casts a glance over me and nods decisively. "Aspiring performer in training without any stage name as of yet."

It's not a moment too soon.

"I want this entire place searched." The sound of feet moving through the hallways sound like crisp thunder.

Seiya-san sits down on the low divan against the wall of the room, and crosses his legs bringing his flute to his lips. Renya-san sits down by the vanity again. "Sit on that stool over there." He gestures. "And sing along with me."

I do my best to follow his scale.

The door slams over half a minute later. "In the name of the Orchid Prince!"

* * *

 **A.N.** And Hana learns more about the people she's fallen in with. Hana and Kakashi take stock of their surroundings. Tsuya-oji shows up for more than four lines. Tanaka Renya and Seiya-san's theatre background is introduced. Kakashi's gone off to find Asuma.

Thanks so much to WhiteFang001 (I write with outlines, but they are constantly under revision, and I have a general idea of big plot points.), fluffpenguin (Yes, Hana and the Explosion Release is a thing.), Born To Sleep (We will be seeing some of the other members of the twelve guardians.), , OddShadow (Yes, people do have irrational reasons for their actions.), snidekick, Sea of Vinegar, UnbiasedBias, EverBear01, Cooked Ghost (Both Morimo and Tsuya show up in this chapter. Their reactions, well...they are both interesting people.), DuxTell, Wren, AnimeFreak71777(:P), korohoshi (I'm not offended. The past chapter was quite heavy.), Grimmjow-girl (I do try to update often.), NighsBlackRose13 (Well, Asuma is going to be consulted.), Love Stories00 (The outfit always had symbolic inclinations, as it's one of the few that I describe in detail, but in the first draft, it did not have Okami's blessing.), Eight Shichibukai, worldtravellingfly, Real Exter (I'm glad you thought it was interesting.), Trent8688, morpheusandmuse, libraryrockerr, waywarddragon, The Wick (Welcome to Bloodless!), o0o0o (The pairing has not been decided, and romance is not a heavy feature of this story.), Mizudoriko, and Puppet Dragon (You saw a lot of the things that I was implying! Yes, Madame Shimiji had several failings, although perhaps not the ones that people would think. We'll get more into the history of the imperial family in the next chapter.) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	63. Kakunodate Arc: Ten

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

The three of us in the room turn towards the door. "Would it kill you to be a little more polite?" Seiya-san drawls as he gets up from the divan in a languid manner.

The guardsman takes a step back. "We didn't realize you were in residence, Hirusato-oji." He looks vaguely perturbed. It must be difficult to be a palace guard, especially one who has met a prince where one didn't expect to.

"Darling?" Renya-san rises. "What's going on?" He sets a hand on Seiya-san's arm. "Is it one of your brothers again? Why would they have cause to bother us?" He sounds like a coquettish girl. "I was hoping that we could finally have some time alone."

Their acting, especially together, is absolutely flawless. Seiya-san shrugs. "Does my dear Ni-Aniue have any words?"

"Let me through." _That sounds...like Asahano-san._ And indeed, the Orchid Prince does make his way to the door in the next half minute, his blue high tail swishing over his shoulder as he bows to Seiya-san. "My dear Otouto!" His smile looks dangerous in the dim light. "Can you step aside so we can search your... _lovely_ establishment?"

His gaze passes over Renya-san as if the opera singer isn't even a person, no more interesting than the gilding on the walls.

I hunch over my stool and pretend to be a little boy who's suddenly been punted into the stratosphere. _What would a civilian boy who's never met a noble do? Probably have a panic attack on the floor._ I shudder, but really I want to strangle him. _And I thought you were a human. I guess I was wrong._

"Ni-Aniue." Seiya-san's smile looks rather stretched. "Has my theatre done something disreputable?"

"Darling?" Renya-san looks between the two princes, his eyes wide and hands shaking. "What's going on?" He knows exactly what's going on, but it's necessary for us all to play our parts.

I am Saito Ishiro, a little boy who has no idea what's going on. I let out a wordless whimper.

A guard pushes past Renya-san, who falls to the floor with a gasp. He's grabbed me by the wrist a moment later, and it's all my reflexes can do to not retaliate. _I could shred you._ "Is this the girl that we want, Hiruhitzen-oji?"

"P-please." I force the words past my lips. _A civilian begs for mercy._ "P-please." And I do my best to cry. "I'm n-not a girl. I-I don't know what you mean."

Asahano-san's sharp green eyes sweep over me dismissively. "A theatre rat." He mutters. "No. We're not looking for a theatre rat." He jerks his gaze back to Seiya-san who is still standing, frozen before him. "Why do you have a rat in your personal rooms, Seiya?"

I watch and blubber as Seiya-san pulls himself together. "Sakae teaches the younger singers quite often, Ni-Aniue." He smiles, softly, gently, dagger sharp in the lantern light. "But of course, you rarely visit the theatre district, so I cannot expect you to understand. Ishiro-kun has just recently arrived to the capital."

Another guard scoffs. "Training another bed warmer more like."

The one that's still holding my wrist agrees. "Isn't this what this place is? A whorehouse?" He leers in my direction, his teeth glinting. "You look cute enough to be a girl, little boy." Red clouds my vision. _Like I'd agree to that._

 _And you happen to be a particularly blind specimen of man. I am a girl you idiot._

Renya-san throws himself in front of me. "Surely, Guard-san." He smiles. "You'd prefer someone else, someone...older?" He might be batting his lashes at the man, but his shoulders are trembling. _And I am ever so grateful that no man can buy my bed anymore, Darling._

 _Renya-san. Has been bought and sold like chattel. Why is he-why would he offer?_

"How crass." Asahano-san turns, and gestures for his guardsmen to follow him. "Imube, if you want to have fun do it on your own time."

* * *

Seiya-san comes to help his partner up as the sound of booted feet fade away down the street. "I'm sorry." He whispers. There are worlds covered in those two words. Sorry I put you up to this on a moment's notice. Sorry you were disrespected. Sorry I was not able to help.

Renya-san smiles. "Never be sorry, my prince."

I pull myself off of the floor. _They went through this whole song and dance for me._ "If there is some way that I could help you?" I can't say that I'm sorry. Renya-san has already implied that he is not sorry, and I doubt Seiya-san needs more guilt.

"Nonsense." Renya-san kisses my cheek. "You acted marvelously." He winks at me, despite my shock. "I'm a performer, little lady, pretending to be afraid comes with the territory."

I frown. _Your fear was certainly real, Renya-san._ "But won't the guard come back?"

He pats my cheek. "No, the establishment has right to refuse him. Besides." And here he shrugs artlessly. "He saw me for no more than a minute or so. All I need is another face, and he's never know anything different."

So he's confident that he'd be able to hide from royal guardsmen in the theatre district. I suppose that it is different for him. He seems to be a rather important figure, and I'm sure that he knows every part of the backstage area. _There might not be a place in the Willow District that's closed to an accomplished makeup artist with princely favor._

"Well, I'll ask a friend to guide you back in the palace through one of the market entrances." Seiya-san rises, and brushes imaginary lint off of his clothes. "Since we've already established that I'm here, and that I won't be heading back to the palace for a bit, we'll need to resort to more imaginative ways of returning you to Tsuya's care."

"Thank you." I smile for him.

He waves for me to go ahead. "I'll be there in a moment."

I go, but there's no one in the hallway, and I feel quite alone. I turn back. His hand is tangled in Renya-san's impressively long hair, their lips so close one would be hard pressed to slide a sheet of paper between them, but most expressive are their eyes, affection, amusement, apology, acceptance. It feels as though I'm intruding on something private. I step back, and wait for Seiya-san to be ready to leave.

* * *

In the end, I'm smuggled back into the palace to Tsuya-oji's watchful gaze under the guise of the son of a brush seller. He's standing in his courtyard, arms crossed feet set shoulder width apart. "Yes, I'll take those." He flips a hundred ryo note over to the man that I came in with. "I'll take the boy too." He tosses over his shoulder. "Do try to keep up, peasant boy."

"I'm not a peasant boy." I really shouldn't talk back to him. He's...well he's being gracious about the situation.

He turns to me with a tight-lipped smile. "You are a peasant boy for as long as it is necessary." He turns. "And if we mess this up then we'll all get killed."

I am confused...until I'm not. _Seiya-san said that if Yasino-oji loses then he and Yasino-oji would lose their heads. I suppose it's the same for Tsuya-oji now that he's acted upon his loyalties._

"I hardly want you to die." I mutter as I follow him.

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Indeed. I feel so comforted." He waves a hand in the direction of his bookshelf, the white ribbons in his topknot fluttering."Fetch me the Analects." And since I happen to be pretending to be a peasant boy at the moment, I go.

"You know." I observe. "One would not expect a peasant boy to know which one of these books happens to be the Analects." The elemental nations are a strange place. The Analects, once by Confucius, are now still the Analects by an author of a different name. It's as if they've been transposed somehow.

He sighs. "I concede that you are not a peasant boy. _Now_ will you fetch me the Analects?"

I pull the book he's requested from the shelf and bring it over to him. He's mixing ink while staring at a half finished painting of a herd of horses. "Your work?" I ask him. "It's amazing." It reminds me of Chichi's paintings of flowers on the folding screens in the Uchiha Compound back at home. _Chichi really is a traditionalist._

He frowns. "Shishou would have been appalled." He holds his wide sleeve with his left hand, and begins the first downward stroke of a character. "I've lost my touch." He makes an abortive gesture towards one of the many scrolls hanging on the opposite wall. "I can only call myself a failure compared to those."

They're horses painted in the same style, but they seem much freer. "You painted these." The brush strokes are too similar for him to claim that they are another's.

The corners of his mouth tilt up in a rueful grin. "Yes. Back in happier days. I was a better artist then." I can find nothing to say to that. The paintings on the wall are much more alive than the one in front of him. The silence between us drags out for a few minutes, but then he continues. "Chichi-ue did not always act like this. He was not always so easily swayed."

"But things changed?" He is only four years younger than Yasino-oji. Clearly then, he still remembers their shared childhood.

"Aniue has always been sick, but the year I turned ten it was exceptionally bad." _Then...Yasino-oji had been fourteen at the time._ Kanabi Bridge had been destroyed when he was fourteen. His surprise at our ages made sense now. _If he'd been sick then..._ "Everyone thought that he might die." Tsuya-oji sets his brush down. "At about the same time, Chichi-ue began to shift more attention to Ni-Aniue, and Consort Ine started her campaign against the rest of us."

"Why are you helping Yasino-oji?" He could sit in his corner of the palace, in stunning neutrality, and wait until the storm blows over, but Seiya-san had trusted him to help his eldest brother.

His smile is a little bitter around the edges. "I have my personal grudges against the Consort Ine." And the ribbons in his hair catch my eye once more as he moves towards the window. _They're white. Traditional signs of mourning a parent. The third consort...his mother is dead._

And that makes a horrible, clear, and distasteful sort of sense. _Consort Ine has been steadily getting rid of her rivals for the Daimyo's affections as well as marginalizing the other princes?_

 _Five consorts have given the Daimyo at least one son. Of those..._

 _Madame Shimiji is in Konoha. The Third Consort is dead, by the ribbons in Tsuya-oji's hair. The Eighth Consort probably doesn't pose a threat since she has no noble backing. The Consorts that don't have sons don't pose a threat. I have no idea which Consort Morimo-oji's the son of, and Consort Ine's the last consort that holds some sort of power._

 _That's sick._

"My lady." I'm shaken from my musings by Kakashi's arrival along with three others. Two of them are Chiriku-san and Asuma, and the other man...I do not know his name, but he's got heavy eyebrows and shaggy light brown hair, and he carries a staff easily in his hand. "And Tsuya-oji, our apologies for disturbing." The four of them bow.

Tsuya-oji merely frowns, and strides forwards, and the door he pauses and looks both ways before carefully shutting it with nary a whisper. "Now." His murmur seems loud in the hush that's descended. "What was so urgent that three of the Twelve Guardians showed up at my estate?"

It's the man that I don't know who steps forwards to speak, he wets his lips and casts a glance at me, still dressed in my peasant boy garb. "You are not a peasant."

I nod back politely. "No." I raise a hand and smudge the makeup on my cheeks just a little. "I'm Lady Inuzuka."

He nods, his eyes half closed, more for his own benefit than anyone else's. "Alright." He says, almost to himself. "So we've uncovered a plot." He takes a deep breath and centers himself. "Consort Ine approached me this morning with a bribe."

Tsuya-oji's hazel eyes narrow. He pulls out a chair. "Sit, Kitane." _So that's his name._

The man sits, the rest of them arrange themselves in various semblances of order about the room. Kakashi drifts over to me as if by chance. "There's more bad news to come, my lady." He murmurs out of the corner of his mouth.

I tilt my head forwards, fingers tapping on his arm. "It figures."

"Now tell us about the bribe." Tsuya-oji leans forward, something feverish shining in his eyes.

"She wanted me to turn against Kageyoshi-sama." _Well...that's...unexpected. What does she have to gain by removing-her son. Asahano-san would take the throne then._ "I refused of course." Kitane-san shudders. "And there was an insinuation dropped that I would regret it."

Tsuya-oji's eyes flick back up to the other two guardians. "Has she made any overtures towards you two?"

It's Asuma who steps forward. "No." He spits. "But it's likely because she knows Konoha wouldn't support it, and Chiriku's got too much of a moral compass." _But is Konoha not supporting it?_

"And you?" Tsuya-oji murmurs while staring at Kakashi. "What about you?"

"I was just passing through." I can almost see the eye smile that's gaining so much prominence right about now.

Tsuya-oji's eyebrow ticks. "So we may assume that three of you are still loyal."

"Tuou should still be as well." Asuma murmurs. "Consort Ine hates her."

"Four of you then." Tsuya-oji mutters. "And we have no idea what she intends." He looks up at the three of them. "I will attempt to contact Seiya. One of you go protect Aniue from someone poisoning his rose tea, and keep _quiet_ about this."

"Pardon me," Chiriku-san steps forwards. "But shouldn't we let Yasino-oji know of this immediately?"

"No." Tsuya-oji says flatly. "Aniue would start coughing up blood again, and we can't have our Crown Prince in such a state when there are still appearances at court to consider." _Is his illness really that bad?_

Chiriku-san's face falls. "The heavens seem to curse our Crown Prince for no reason at all."

Tsuya-oji rises. "I do not care what the heavens seem to think." He brushes imaginary lint off of his haori, and gestures for them all to disperse. "I only care what I think. And I think that you three need to get back to your daily tasks and not congregate about me so obviously."

Kakashi squeezes my shoulder, fingers tapping casually against my opposite wrist. "Talk. Alone."

I tap back. "Yes."

* * *

We're ensconced in a cramped set of two rooms, each wall is covered with books and scrolls and paintings of all sorts, and we've been here all night. "It would appear." Kakashi states grandly as the sun starts to appear above the horizon. "That the fourth prince is a scholar."

Ichi sends him an unimpressed look. "Wow." He growls under his breath. "I never would have guessed."

Kakashi flicks a loose sheet of paper at him. "Don't be so judgmental, Ichi!"

Ichi settles back on his front paws, and his breathing eases back into sleep. "Wake me up later." He mutters.

"What," I murmur, a hand stroking through Ni's fur, my head pillowed on San's stomach. "Would Danzo possibly hope to gain by colluding with Consort Ine?"

"A puppet daimyo?" Kakashi offers.

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Doesn't he have that already?" It's a harsh thing to say about Kageyoshi Minamaru, but he seems more like a weather vane pointing in Consort Ine's direction than anything else at the moment. Surely, if Danzo was already connected with Consort Ine, then it makes no sense to support her court ambitions unless he had few other options? "Why would he deploy his own forces to attempt to kill of Yasino-oji?" ROOT isn't connected to the palace guard or nobility, which is why Consort Ine had probably chosen them as her method in case an inquest is staged after the death of the crown prince.

"The organization." Kakashi says rather hesitantly. "Was not here simply for Yasino-oji."

I sit up, and look at him, through the waking light of the rising sun. "You?" He'd made an abortive gesture towards his covered eye..."They were here for your eye."

"Obito's eye." He corrects thoughtlessly, and then freezes. "Your perception startles me, Hana-chan."

I shrug. He already thinks I'm a prodigy, I shouldn't hide whatever connections I've made. "So theoretically, this was a winning scenario for the both of them. He gets...an eye, and Consort Ine gets a crown prince." _Oh. This was why Danzo let Kakashi go with me even though he couldn't get a ROOT agent on this mission._

 _He could stage the eye snatching somewhere away from Konoha, or the Hokage's shoulder and blame it on the Kiri nuke-nin, especially since Kakashi made it no secret that he's himself on this mission._

 _Damn that man._ Danzo played far more steps ahead than I thought. _How many other plots does he have that I am not aware of?_

"Yes." Kakashi looks grim. The rising sun gives his silver hair a crimson glow. "And we've foiled both of those plots."

I shake Ichi, Ni, and San awake. "Come on guys. We have to go and see the Magnolia Prince." Asuma should still be guarding Yasino-oji unless he's switched with Kitane-san or Chiriku-san during the night.

* * *

Kakashi and Asuma have secluded themselves on the first floor of Yasino-oji's pagoda, and only I step into his bedroom. It's warmer now, but the morning sun does not touch him. He's swathed in shadows. The dim light does nothing for his complexion.

 _Kami. His pallor makes him look like he's_ dead. "Yasino-oji?" I ask.

His hand appears from underneath the sheets. "Lady Inuzuka?" It seems that he's undergone a massive change in just a few days.

I slide into the chair beside his bed. "Are you alright?" I do my best not to add that he looks like he's half dead.

He chuckles, the action shaking his shoulders and turns to coughs. He stops and counts breaths for a long moment. This close, I can hear his accelerated heart rate, much faster than that of a resting heart even for a civilian. There's a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead. "If you wouldn't mind," He murmurs. "Could you-" He props himself up on an arm, muscles shaking, and I move the pillows about so that he's half propped up upon them instead of lying down. "You remember how I like my tea." He comments faintly, gesturing at the lacquer box on the table.

 _Oh. Honestly._ Yes, I did know how he liked his tea. _I suppose he can't trust anyone else to not poison it should he ask._ I rise. "Where should I find the water?"

"Down the hall." He gestures weakly at the opposite wall. "There's running water over there."

I pick up the steel pitcher. "Good to know." I turn back to look at him from the doorway. "Please attempt to stay alive while I offer you another apology."

His smile seems more genuine now, amusement sparking in his eyes. "I shall-" He takes a breath. "Endeavor to do so."

* * *

I'm filling the pitcher with water from the tap when I hear footsteps down the hall, and his door sliding open. _I don't remember who that is-_ I turn hurriedly, water splashing against the opposite wall.

I promptly trip over something that yowls and claws at my ankle. I catch myself with a hand on the wall and reflexively kick it. As it flies through the air, I realize that it's...Tora.

Which can only mean that Madame Shimiji is again in residence in the palace. I move cautiously towards the cat. It hisses at me and puffs up as though it smells the dog in my psyche. "Well, hello to you too." I mutter at it. "Aren't you a ball of sunshine."

"Hssssst." Tora disappears around the corner.

It is only then that I hear the crack. I make my way to Yasino-oji's door, heart in my mouth, _what if he's fallen, what if he's dead, what will his Kaa-san do to me then-_ I freeze.

The scene before me does not compute. There's Madame Shimiji, her hand raised, rings glittering in the morning sun, chest heaving fury twisting her features. There's Yasino-oji on his knees before her, a hand over the red hand print on his face, which seems to be swelling even as I stand there.

"Haha-ue." He whispers, steel eyes truly broken at last. And then he's coughing, a hand over his mouth, shaking.

"A disappointment." She hisses. "You should have _died._ " There's hysteria in her eyes. "All that I've done, all that's been done for you. You. Should. Have. Died." _What?_ The world goes still. _He shouldn't ever die you ungrateful bitch._ It's irony that I would call anyone bitch, but I mean it in the most derogatory sense at the moment, unconnected to any form of motherhood. And that is what I cannot understand. _Family is sacred._

 _Family has always been sacred._ And I'm smelling incense from Okami's shrine. A rumbling in the back of my mind agrees with me. _Family is sacred, little one._ The thought is gone as fast as it forms, and I have no time to dwell.

I step into the room, moving around her, because clearly she is a disgusting excuse of a human being, and set the pitcher of water on the table before slinging his arm over my shoulder. "You need to go back to bed." I murmur. "The exhertion is clearly not good for you." He says nothing, but his heart rate is even faster than it had been earlier, and I do not foresee good chances if he does not calm down.

I tuck him back into bed, and then turn to face the woman still standing statuesque in the center of his bedroom. "Madame Shimiji." I smile at her, poisonous and glittering in the bright light of the morning. "I suggest you go back downstairs."

She frowns and opens her mouth to say something. I take a step forwards. "Don't make me force you." Her mouth clicks shut. She steps out into the hallway, calls for Tora, and I hear her footsteps rattle down two flights of steps and out into the garden.

Behind me, Yasino-oji begins to cough. Dry, hacking coughs that sounds like he's going to lose his lungs any second.

* * *

"Do you want to talk about it?" After the events of the morning, I have no actual desire to talk to him about Consort Ine's plot. _His life is absolutely frightening right now._

"Do you think I would?" He muses, and that's a fair point. If Kaa-san had...I can't actually even contemplate it because Kaa-san is nothing like-whatever that had been, but I doubt I'd want to talk about it, if it were so.

I pick out a few rose petals, and pour the heated water into a cup right in front of him. "Here." I offer it to him. "I think you can trust that I haven't poisoned you."

He looks down at the tea in askance, but reaches out to take it from me anyway. "For all I know," He says patiently as he takes a sip. "You could have poisoned the water while you were in the hallway."

I make a face at him. "I tripped over a cat in the hallway." And here I have to frown, and look away because it's just embarrassing is what it is. "That was the only thing interesting that happened out there."

He muffles a chuckle. "Haha-ue's cat?"

But by the time I turn around again, he's frowning. "Haha-ue loves that cat." There's something broken and shattered in his eyes. "More than me at any rate. At least the cat's never disappointed her." The bitterness in his voice is too heavy for words.

 _The more I know about him, the more he seems like a young man crushed by a mountain._

"I don't believe that reasonable people would find you a disappointment, Yasino-oji." I take the teacup and refill it. "I certainly don't find you disappointing." And saying it makes it true. I've found him frustrating, worthy of anger, of concern, of respect, but not of disappointment.

"I tried very hard to please her." He says finally, eyes roaming over his bedroom. "On my bedridden days, this room was my prison. I spent every moment here." His fingers play with a loose thread on the bedspread. "I was taught here, away from everyone." His hands shake too badly to keep holding the teacup. He gives it back to me. _What sort of illness is this?_

Something tells me that I should know.

"Haha-ue loved me desperately then." Everything about the past tense made this conversation so much worse. "But she could not love me forever." He sighs. "There are only so many times you can stand having your hopes destroyed."

 _He has chronic fatigue. His hands are shaking. He coughs. He's pale._ "Yasino-oji?" I blink and lean forward. "How long have you been sick?"

The corners of his mouth turns down. "Forever." _Chronic._

 _Childhood illness that refuses to go away._

 _And this onslaught was because he lost too much blood on our trip back..._

 _Blood._ "I-Yasino-oji?" I grab his moving wrist in a motion light enough not to seem threatening. "Where's Chiriku-san?"

He frowns at me. "With Chichi-ue, I assume, as Asuma's sitting downstairs."

"Give me a moment." I clatter out his door. "I need to ask him about something."

* * *

"-Surprised you're here with an Inuzuka girl, Kakashi." And that has to be Asuma, who's confused about Kakashi's...sociability? "And she's got teeth too." _Well, I suppose he's been here for a while, and he's never met me before so._

"Asuma-san?" I poke my head around the door. The Triplets are grumbling in a corner about something or other.

Asuma looks as though he'd been caught sneaking candy from underneath an academy desk. "I meant nothing-"

I wave off his concerns. "Enough about that really." I don't need to know about how sorry he is that he'd made comments about me behind my back. I need him for something else right now. "Do you know where Chiriku-san is? I need to talk to him."

"Chiriku?" Asuma blinks. "Sure, he should be-"

"Can you go get him?" I'm being frightfully rude, but I can't really say that I'm worried at the moment. "I need to talk to him."

"Maa..." Kakashi tilts his head back to look at me. "Hana-chan, you're far too excited after having visited a sick man that we depend on."

I stick my tongue out at him. "Oh hush you." I poke his nose, and he goes cross-eyed. "I might have found the answers to all of our problems." _I might actually know what Yasino-oji's illness is. So hurry up and find the medic so he can either confirm or deny it._

He pushes my hand away from his nose. "Don't be mean, Hana-chan." He singsongs, but there's no denying that there's something rather fond in his tone instead of irritation. "Tell us the good news."

There's no plastic in his eye smile, and I can see a hint of an actual smile underneath his mask.

"Kakashi..." Even when he's in a good mood, he's still acting so much like a troll. "I can't tell you if I'm not right."

"Okay..." We both turn back to look at Asuma, who looks vaguely like his entire world has been upended. "I don't know what you've been doing." And here he looks at me as though I am somehow the most confusing object he's seen in this century. "But keep doing it."

He disappears out the door.

"What was that about?" I ask Kakashi.

He shrugs. "He seems to think that I'm happier than when he saw me last." His tone implies that this is rather matter of course.

"And when did he see you last?" I ask, because I'm not willing to bet that it's actually _because_ of me. _Hatake Kakashi's orbit doesn't change because of me. There's a logical reason for everything._

"In the graveyard." And his response is flippant again. _See? It's because he was in mourning last time. Nothing to do with me in the slightest._ "Now, Hana-chan." He's gotten serious again. "What was it that you discovered?"

"Yasino-oji's illness." I mumble. "I think I know what it is."

He leans forward. "Yes?"

* * *

"It's anemia." I clarify again for Chiriku-san at Yasino-oji's bedside. Asuma is still guarding the lower levels of the pagoda in an attempt to make sure that no one overhears our conversation. "A blood disease. When there aren't enough blood cells to maintain nutrient levels. It causes chronic fatigue among other things."

Chiriku-san hums with his eyes closed, and his hands glow green. "You said it was when there are fewer blood cells?"

"Yes." I shift from one foot to the other. "So what's the diagnosis?"

"Yasino-oji." Chiriku-san's eyes snap open, and he glances sharply at me. "Does in fact have fewer blood cells than average."

Yasino-oji sucks in a breath. "So it was a blood disease." There's a note of resignation in his voice. "Well, it can hardly be helped."

"Can you artificially replicate the blood cells?" I do not pay attention to Yasino-oji's depression. As far as I am aware, there's nothing wrong with his inheritance, there is merely something wrong with his _blood._ Back in my former life, severe anemia was incurable. It could be treated, but the effects couldn't be cured. Here, it might not be incurable.

"For the time being, that is a possible patch." Chiriku-san concentrates, the green glow grows wider and brighter. "But it's not permanent." He warns. "Artificially replicating blood cells too often will lead to an early demise." _Right. Cells can only be replicated so many times before the genetic material decays._

 _That's what aging is._

Color returns to Yasino-oji's cheeks. "I'll take what I can get at this point." He props himself up. "I can't languish in bed forever. Lady Inuzuka, thank you." And then he bows to me.

I catch his arms. "Don't do that." I hiss at him, my face flushing from my neck to the roots of my hair. "You're the Crown Prince, other people shouldn't see you-"

"Bow?" He raises an eyebrow at me. "As far as I am aware-Lady Inuzuka you may correct me if I am wrong, but-you would have killed a person to have had me grovel at your feet after I nearly ran you over on your first day in the capital."

"That was something else." I mumble and look away. Kakashi does not help matters. He is making strange faces in my direction from behind Yasino-oji's back.

Chiriku-san rises. "As it is, I will return when we need to coordinate our plans."

"Which plans?" Yasino-oji is now much more alert than earlier.

"There has been," Kakashi interjects. "Reports that _she_ is attempting to bribe various members of the Twelve Guardians."

And Yasino-oji's mouth visibly tightens. "Has she set a date for her plans?" He does not ask who Consort Ine has been targeting, but there is a question that breaks free of my lips.

"Yasino-oji?" I can't help but ask. _It's plagued me for so long at this point._ "Who was Consort Ine before she became consort?"

There is a storm in his eyes. "Imube Ine was one of the many daughters of Imube-sama." He grimaces. "And one of Chichi-ue's many mistresses before his marriage to Haha-ue."

 _Imube. The Nidaime signed the treaty for Yoshiwara with the Imube. Asahano never intended to care about reform at all._

 _He's the one with the most to lose should reform come._

The thought that follows is bitter. _I should have known that from the first moment he addressed an Imube so casually before the rest of the nobility present at the Civilian Council and not a single one of them bat an eyelash._

* * *

Kakashi heads out with Asuma to complete some planning regarding witnesses and evidence gathering against Consort Ine. The Triplets and I are left with Yasino-oji, because as Kakashi puts it. "We already know that you're good protection for Yasino-oji, my lady."

"Please." I cross my arms over my chest. "Don't be mean, Kakashi."

He winks at me. "It's in response to your own cruelty earlier, my lady." With an aggrandized bow, he steps past the threshold, and I hear his footsteps mingle with Asuma's on their way down the stairs.

Two hours later, I'm sure Yasino-oji is ready to pull his hair out. He's still calculating grain accounts with an abacus, fingers a blur over the beads, the end of his high tail twirling around the fingers of his other hand.

He pauses, for a brief moment, just staring at the movement of beads, and then, with a casual hand, he tips the abacus over the edge of his desk.

It hits the floor with a crash. "I don't ever want to see numbers ever again." He turns to me. "We're going out." _Wait. What?_

 _We can't do that. You'll get hurt, or there'll be an assassin in the marketplace or..._

 _You'll actually run someone over._

"We shouldn't." I offer weakly. "We really shouldn't. It's not safe."

He frowns at me. "You are perfectly capable of being my protection." He turns up his nose. "I have no desire to calculate accounts until I die of old age. Besides," And here he gestures to the Triplets who had been asleep in a fuzzy dog pile at my feet. "I've woken up your dogs, which means that I have to find something for them to do that will not be so boring as to send them to sleep."

Ni scratches his ear. "He has a point, Hana."

"I agree." San wriggles closer to Yasino-oji. "This one knows what he's talking about."

"You guys." I mutter under my breath at them. "You should not be fueling his destructive tendencies."

"You're one to talk." Ichi turns one dark eye at me balefully. "Who's the one who knows how to explode things?"

I give up on convincing them. "If we are going out, we will not be racing about on your horse."

He frowns at me. "Black Sand is perfectly capable of carrying the two of us."

"We won't get to see anything." I cross my arms over my chest, and frown harder. "Besides, I don't want us to actually trample someone." I pick the abacus off of the floor. "Besides, I don't think you want to seem terrifying to your people."

He seems to turn my words over in his head. "Very well." He concedes. "We shall go out your way then."

* * *

We end up walking around in the same market square that we'd met in half an hour later. He's dressed in his least ornate haori, which is surprisingly plain, and I am dressed in my normal shorts and scoop-necked shirt, uchiwa stitched carefully on my left shoulder. The Triplets trail lazily after us.

"I could never walk around like this before." He sighs from somewhere above me. "I really have to thank you."

I pause to stare at the koi at a fishing booth. "There's no need to thank me." I smile at the old man behind the stand. "Have a good day Jisan!" He seems surprised, but I've turned back to Yasino-oji. "I came to Kakunodate because I wanted someone to listen to me."

"Well you may have succeeded." Yasino-oji regards me with stormy gray eyes. "You have indeed succeeded."

"Flowers! Fresh Flowers!" A girl no older than Cousin Kihaku waves at us from another street corner. "A bouquet for your sister, sir?"

Yasino-oji smiles pleasantly at her. "Lady Inuzuka is not my sister." He murmurs. "But yes, I'll take magnolias."

She blushes a vibrant red, and picks out two enormous flowers for him.

As he leans forward to pay his hair slides over his shoulder. "It should be no more than fifty ryo for them, right?"

She drops to her knees. "Forgive me, Hiruyasu-ojisama." Her forehead's pressed in the dirt not a moment later. "I didn't mean any disrespect." _It was the hair._

 _If he's flying about on a horse, the most they'd ever see of him is the last three inches of his high tail in vibrant green._

 _Why do they have such distinctive hair dyes?_ I wince. _I have no idea how he'll react to this._

Her outburst has not gone unnoticed. All about us, the whispers spread like wildfire. "There's no need for that, miss." And he frowns as he leans down to help her up. "I just wanted flowers."

Her hands are shaking as she attempts to find our change. "H-here, Hiruyasu-ojisama, milady." She bows towards us.

Yasino-oji blinks as he takes the bills and coins from her. "What is this for?" _Has he never made-he probably has people to do this for him._

"It's our change." I murmur as I pull him away from the poor girl's stand. "You gave her more than she was charging so she returned the extra money to you."

"Oji-sama!" An older couple blocks our way. "Oji-sama please!"

Yasino-oji's face has taken on an expression that can best be described as confusion. "What's the matter, Ojisan? Obasan?"

The old man drops to his knees. "My sons, my sons." He presses his head to the ground. "Earlier this year I lost the elder of my two sons. The youngest is still serving in the army."

The old woman achingly bends to the ground as well. "We mean no disrespect, Oji-sama. We just want to see him. One last time before, before-" She seems to not be able to articulate the next words. _Before we have to bury him._

Yasino-oji leans to help the two of them up. "And does your son love you as dearly as you love him?" He murmurs. There is pain, deep and gravely raw in his voice, in the anguish of his storming eyes. "Tell me his name. I will see that he comes home to you for a month."

 _The relationship between parents and their children. A wound that cuts him open._ The wild joy in this couple's eyes bring a smile to his lips as well.

We are stopped many times after that.

By people who want to say hello. By people who want to trail their fingers along his sleeve. By children who want to give him little things, flowers, pebbles, a piece of candy, a feather.

And a Yasino-oji that these people had never seen before peels away his protective shell, and stands, blinking and stunned in the afternoon sunshine, surrounded by a people that seemed capable of loving him after all.

* * *

 **A.N.** This chapter, is the longest chapter I've written for Bloodless at just about 7 thousand words. There are at most two chapters left of this arc (but most likely one if I can fit it in under 8 thousand words), and then Hana is going home to new situations.

But yes, here we have more politics, and Yasino actually talking to the townsfolk for a change, instead of just charging through.

Thank you so much to worldtravellingfly (That's the idea!), bookdragonslayer (I do want to. Perhaps Ashen would help. There's just so much going on in this arc, and it's already so long. *Sweatdrops*), CasJeanne, EverBear01 (Yes. Kakashi however, is good at avoiding things he does not like.), Oddshadow (Yes, although I believe that offense is not the right word for it on Danzo's end.), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), Cooked Ghost (No, Asahano is not pleased. It is just that he has not yet found Hana...), Thedarktheme (I'm sorry you find it that way...), WhiteFang001, Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf (We got Hana kicking Tora down the hall...does that count?), Once Among Wolves (Thank you! I love your name btw!), fluffpenguin (No. Danzo was not just going for Hana.), MarchionessBlueVelvet, helenGet, librayrockerr, Lost-Tribe Daughter, angrypixels (Politics is something I like writing about weirdly enough.), Anni (I'm glad you like it! Welcome to Bloodless!), BloodyAsphode11 (Yep. Shinobi/Japanese Game of Thrones sounds about right.), skittlesdeb, JaqBBad (Welcome to Bloodless! I'm so glad that you like it! Romance is up in the air, I'm slowly coming to a decision.), luminouscat49 (Welcome to Bloodless! The Daimyo's court will not be as important after this arc, but characters from it will come back in later parts of the story, because I agree. Normal non-shinobi people are hard to find in the Naruto fandom.), and Annedq (Welcome to Bloodless! I keep a fairly consistent updating schedule of at least once weekly.) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	64. Kakunodate Arc: Eleven

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

A week later, Kakashi and the Guardian's stakeout for evidence bears fruit. I do not know the details of how they succeeded, given that the Triplets and I have been practicing our own stakeout skills with Yasino-oji who seems to be in better health and worse temper by the day. The trip down to the market might have encouraged him for a day or so as he located the son of the old couple and sent him on his merry way for a month of paid vacation. He'd also looked me up and down, ordered a palace seamstress to appear and take my measurements, and then fussed over my wardrobe quite a bit, but by the third day of continuous calculation and looking over grain records, Yasino-oji is very irate indeed.

"Are you sure that the records for ten years ago said that we imported eight hundred thousand pounds of rice from Rice Country?" He's flipping through another, even dustier book.

I look up from my own book. "Yes. The records do say that."

He throws up his hands. "Then why on earth did we only import two hundred thousand pounds of rice from Rice Country last year?" He paces the room. "One, where did all that money go?" He turns around in a tight circle and comes back. "Two, why did we suddenly not need six hundred thousand pounds of rice decreasing at large intervals in the past five years? The population experienced quite a large span of growth as we aren't at war anymore."

"Yasino-oji?" It's Asuma, lingering over the doorway of Yasino-oji's study. "We've got some new developments regarding the plan, would you mind coming down?"

Yasino-oji nods absently. "Yes. Yes. I'll be right there." He's still distracted by the grain records even though he claims to hate them.

I do have to admit that it is worrying, but there are more immediate pressures at stake here. "Yasino-oji, Consort Ine's plans take precedence over the grain records for the moment."

He sighs. "Yes, of course."

* * *

The two men that they drag into Yasino-oji's front room are not cowed, not yet. They do not bother kneeling, and cross their arms. "This is unlawful detainment." The one of the right grouses. "We're your imperial relatives, Hiruyasu-oji."

Yasino-oji strides back and forth between them, his hair falling messily out of the high tail. He doesn't much look like a crown prince at the moment, just a young man who has had too few hours of sleep. "A correction, Imube-san." He smiles tightly, lips pressed together as if he really doesn't want to say the next words. "You are Asahano-chan's relatives, but you are most certainly not mine."

The one on the left opens his mouth. "Then you must know that-"

Yasino-oji unsheathes his sword in one fluid stroke, and examines it very casually. "I _must_?" He runs a finger down the flat of the blade. "I didn't know that there was anything that I _must_ know."

 _Don't do it like this, Yasino-oji._ He'd been so capable of kindness and sweetness even if he'd been surprised when out in the market, but it seems that he's pulled the shell back on for this confrontation. _You won't get anywhere by acting like their version of unhinged._

"Hiruyasu-oji." The one on the right smiles. "Surely there's no need for anger, right? We've just been detained by these..." He glances over at Kakashi, who gives him an eye smile and a little wave. "Shinobi. We'll see ourselves out."

"No." And it's another man that's blocking the door. _Retainer Abe?_ He'd been absent for most of Yasino-oji's illness, he'd seemed to be stuck the Daimyo's side, but he's here now. "Those who want to commit treason ought never escape." And perhaps for him that is what it comes down to, less loyalty to a person, and more simply to the statue of law. _Traitors ought to hang._

He holds his arm out across the door, long pipe in hand. "Tell Hiruyasu-oji what you've done."

"Why must we listen to you?" The man on the right takes a step towards Retainer Abe. "Don't you know that your own position at court is at stake?"

The man on the left sneers. "He doesn't have a future at court."

The sword in Yasino-oji's hand twitches. "So you admit it then. Consort Ine has paid you to spread lies in front of Chichi-ue. You want Asahano-chan to become the next Daimyo." He doesn't touch the idea that perhaps Kageyoshi-sama is in danger.

"You have to admit." The one of the left glances at him. "A hot headed prince without any friends or any understanding of the outside world and a weak constitution, compared to a friendly, charismatic prince who often visits Konoha? Which one would you choose?"

And that's just so _low._ "Retainer." I step out from behind the bookcase. Both men startle. "You have to admit, a black-hearted prince who is willing to kill his brother for a title, or a young man who tries so hard to be understanding despite being crushed by a mountain of expectations? Which one would you choose?"

He pales. "Who are you?"

I smile politely at him. "I'm Lady Inuzuka." He can see all of my teeth, perfectly white, perfectly straight. At least I don't have fangs, like most of my relatives.

"Don't be so surprised." The other one hisses. "She's just a little girl."

I blink at him. "Yes." I agree. "I'm just a little girl, so could you please tell me what's going on?" I take another step forward. I don't expect them to tell me anything, but I do not like them, and they are clearly afraid of me. That they would cower makes me happier than I have right to be.

They both take a step back. "Don't be stupid." The one on the left hisses at the one on the right. "She killed two men not two weeks ago. She's not dumb enough to not know what's going on."

I take another step forward. The man on the left takes a step back and trips over decorative table, a scroll rolls out of his sleeve as he falls. Kakashi scoops it up without a second thought. "I think we need to take this." He passes it to Yasino-oji. "I believe you might need this as evidence."

Yasino-oji's face darkens. "Asuma. Chiriku. Lock them both up in the backroom."

* * *

And then we casually sit down to have tea. It is most disconcerting. _At least I didn't learn that he actually has dungeons in his backroom or something._

"Yasino-oji." I murmur. "What are we doing?"

He glances up from the scroll in his hand. "We've baited the trap. Now all we need to do is wait for the bigger fish to stumble into the net."

"You want-"

There's a clatter and a crash in the courtyard, and the sound of horses. "Aniue!" Asahano strides into the room. "I hear you have a few of my relatives locked up?"

Yasino-oji rises and tucks the scroll into his sleeve. "Indeed." He presses a hand to his chest, and coughs, a hand shaking over the table. _But he isn't sick right now, he might never be sick again._ He blinks at me once, and I understand. _Oh._ "Asahano-chan," He gestures to a seat. "I've been doing," Another coughing fit. "doing a lot of thinking recently."

Asahano-san seems a bit nonplussed, but he sits. "Aniue?" He leans forwards, bright green eyes searching his brother's face. "Are you certain that you're well enough to sit out here?"

Yasino-oji waves him off. I rise to pour them both tea. "Don't worry about it Asahano-chan." He takes the cup from me, hands trembling almost too much. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, Hiruyasu-oji." I murmur, eyes downcast. _I suppose the dislike of outspoken women was a lie on your part as well, Asahano._

"I need to go away." Yasino-oji says suddenly. "I can't possibly stay here for life." _What's going on? I know that Yasino-oji is pretending to be weaker than normal, but what does he seek to gain from all of this?_

"Aniue?" Asahano blinks. "Are you speaking of a trip?"

Yasino-oji glares at him. "No, _beloved_ otouto. I mean to leave for at least a year." He sighs, eyes turning out to the courtyard. "This place is killing me." _He does not mean that._ Because if I've learned anything of Yasino-oji, it is that he does not care if the throne kills him. His duty binds him to consider things like grain shortages and other such problems, and consider it he will.

He does not run or hide.

"But you are the Crown Prince, Aniue." Asahano stands and circles about to his elder brother's side. I watch them both carefully. _A death would be catastrophic, no matter who's death it is. And I trust neither of them to hold their hand should they be able to kill each other._ "You can't possibly leave."

Yasino-oji smiles bitterly. "The _Crown Prince_ is not allowed to leave." He gently tucks a loose strand of hair behind his brother's ear. The gesture would be tender if I didn't know that he also had a knife strapped to the same wrist and could slit Asahano's throat in half a minute. "If I chose to leave, I shall leave my title to Chichi-ue to fill." And every puzzle piece clicks together.

He'd said that we would be baiting a trap. He would never give up his position at court. _He's playing with Asahano for something, but what do we gain if he believes the ruse?_

"That," Asahano pulls back, green eyes swirling with confusion. "That is...surprising, Aniue." _Well, he's certainly disoriented._

Yasino-oji climbs to his feet. I lean forward to offer him a shoulder. He takes it, but his grip is firm. _Not ill then. He's well enough to play games again._ "Nevertheless," He says calmly, breathing uneven. "It is what I have decided. I will be packing up my household. I expect to inform Chichi-ue in three days' time."

The expression on Asahano's face can only be described as greed. "Three days?"

Yasino-oji coughs. "Three days." He pulls a scroll from his left sleeve. _That's not the same scroll as the one we took from the two retainers who're still in the back._ "There are dissidents in court who plan to kill me." He offers it to Asahano with a sigh. "That it would come to infighting between brothers." He murmurs. "Such a shame."

We leave Asahano behind in his front room, and climb laboriously up the stairs.

* * *

Yasino-oji turns to me when we are safely ensconced in his study, a dancing smile on his lips. He leans forwards. "How was my acting?" He whispers.

"It was certainly very believable." Asahano had arrived to ask for his relatives back, but after the ruse he'd just been subjected to, it seems that it's completely slipped his mind to consider it. "What did we get out of it though?"

Yasino-oji leans back in his chair and twirls a brush around his fingers in idle amusement. "Well, now that he's let his guard down, it is the perfect time for us to strike." _So he wants to use his brother's lack of attention to keep the witnesses to implicate Consort Ine?_

 _He has royally distracted Asahano with that move. There were no questions about me, or the relatives we still have locked in the back._

"Won't the rumor that you're willing to give up your position get about to the entire court?" It's a dangerous game to play. It might not work out properly. _What if the Daimyo let him go?_

"Yes." He response cheerfully, and rises. "On second thought, I should tell all the servants to start packing." He taps a finger against his chin. "Or...no. It should be less obvious than that." He smiles bitterly at me. "I don't have another way of forcing Chichi-ue to hold court, and the plot on his life is a very serious thing."

I nod. "As long as it doesn't actually endanger your position." I make my way towards the door to find Kakashi.

"Oh, it will." I turn back to look at Yasino-oji in surprise. _Then why would you ever-_ "But life is nothing without a little risk, don't you think?"

I regard him for a long moment. At this proud young man in his plain green haori, and steely eyes. "No." I respond. "Perhaps it isn't." He's done with playing games. Done with waiting and cowering. He's made up his mind.

I can do little to change things at this point.

* * *

I am right. It is all anyone I pass whispers of the next morning. It is all I can do to contain my nerves. The fact that I am again wearing formal clothing, this time a red furisode with white magnolia flowers and green leaves. The sleeves are still stitched with black wolves, but this time they are perched on my shoulders.

Yasino-oji had sent a hair stylist to pile my hair about my face in a style fashionable enough for court wear in anticipation of the events of the day. I feel thoroughly like an impostor.

"Hana okay?" Ni prods my hand with his nose.

I smile at him, because there are people about. "Yes. I am alright."

"I feel as though this isn't the best plan Yasino-oji's come up with." Kakashi murmurs from behind me, his nose still stuck in Icha Icha Paradise.

"For once." Ichi mutters from his side. "I agree with the Irritant."

Yasino-oji greets us at the entrance of the large square which leads into the Chrysanthemum Hall, where the Daimyo actually held court...which he hasn't done since sometime three months ago, apparently. _So Danzo expected me to fail just on principle. The Daimyo holds court like four times a year or something._

 _If it wasn't for Yasino-oji's ruse, he wouldn't be holding court this month at all. And I doubt we'd be talking about district reform today._

"Lady Inuzuka." Yasino-oji offers me his arm, and nods curtly to Kakashi. "Sharingan no Kakashi."

Kakashi puts his book away and nods back. "Yasino-oji."

We head through the square, among the swirling color of the court, and the ministers, and retainers, and servants.

"Yasino-oji!" A short man with a truly fantastic white mustache is hurrying towards us, his folding fan waving frantically in our direction. "Please tell me that you are not abandoning the country to wasteful spending and ruin!"

"Minister Kusakabe." Yasino-oji hides a smile with a wide, ornately stitched sleeve. "Please do not worry yourself so." He turns to me. "This is the Minister of the Left, Minister Kusakabe deals primarily with the oversight of the judiciary system in the northern region of the country." He smiles back at Minister Kusakabe. "And this is the Lady Inuzuka of Konoha."

I bow for the minister. "It is good to meet you, Kusakabe-san."

"Likewise, Inuzuka-san." He replies. "Yasino-oji, there have been rumors floating throughout court all this morning. You cannot possibly tell me that there is any grain of truth within them."

Yasino-oji laughs. "Come, let us head in." He does not confirm or deny. Playing coy seems to be something that he doesn't do often though, because the Minister of the Left follows us. The old man clearly wants to speak more, but Yasino-oji's good mood seems to be preventing him.

We walk through the whispering rows of ministers and retainers, Tsuya-oji is somewhere towards the center, I do not spot Morimo-oji at all, Yasino-oji takes his position at the front of one of the many rows before the ornate dragon and chrysanthemum wood throne on the dais high above us all. Another man, this one middle aged with liver spotted hands, turns to us with wrathful eyes. "Yasino-oji!" He hisses. "Deny the rumors! You are not allowed to leave."

"Nakatomi-jisan." He murmurs back. "Might I introduce the Lady Inuzuka of Konoha?" _I swear he likes to put on shows. I didn't know that he and Seiya-san had so much in common. This acting is getting ridiculous._ "And Lady Inuzuka, this is Haha-ue's brother, the Minister of the Right, Nakatomi Ichiro."

 _Nakatomi...Elder Nakatomi. Yasino-oji is a relative of the officiator of the Civilian Council?_ Elder Nakatomi had not been particularly offensive towards me, simply apprehensive. I have to be polite to him now.

"A pleasure." I bow towards the Minister of the Right. _I don't know what you do, but I assume you keep this country running, since the Daimyo himself does very little ruling._

He returns the bow, slightly deeper than what I'd expected. "My thanks for saving my nephew."

Asahano appears, seemingly in better spirits than most, although his facial features take on a perturbed hue when he spots me next to Yasino-oji. I suppose it is because it is the first inkling that his dear Aniue might have lied about stepping aside and letting him have the position of Crown Prince.

Seiya-san hurries in, smoothing down his plum colored haori, and fixing his hair as he does. He takes a position near the back, farther away from us, but he casts worried glances in our direction, almost as if he wants to ignore propriety and come over and speak to us.

Morimo-oji is the last to arrive, out of breath, tying up his hair in the high tail. He takes a position next to Seiya-san.

"Kageyoshi-sama has arrived!" A retainer walks down through the center of the rows, and ascends to the third step of the dais.

"Bansai!" The court choruses, as everyone drops to their knees. I follow suit, because right now is really not the time to assert any sort of individuality. "A thousand years of good health to the Daimyo!" A two hundred different voices at once.

"Rise." Kageyoshi-sama has ascended to the throne above the dais. Consort Ine is at his side, and two unfamiliar Guardians follow after him. "Now, would anyone like to bring any affairs for the day?"

Minister Kusakabe steps out of his position close to the middle of the ranks. "This one has something to say."

"State that." Kageyoshi-sama gestures towards him.

"I must confess that the outrageous rumor floating about court this morning has unsettled this one greatly." Minister Kusakabe begins, with a small glance in our direction. "I have heard the completely slanderous story that Hiruyasu-oji has come to the decision to abdicate his position as Crown Prince and travel the country in leisure."

"Pardon me." Another man steps out of the crowd.

"He's the Minister of Grain, Imube Shiro." Yasino-oji murmurs from the corner of his mouth. _Imube. I see. And of grain too. Weren't there problems we found in the grain accounts?_

"But I believe the rumor must have some sustenance." Minister Imube glances towards us. "As the entire court knows, Hiruyasu-oji has again been unwell. Perhaps it would be a smart move for him to abdicate the often tiring position of Crown Prince."

Minister Kusakabe splutters. "Smart move? Hiruyasu-oji manages at least forty different types of accounts during his daily life. Can you say that any of us will be able to manage even one of them?"

"I would say," Minister Imube takes a step forward. "That that is more reason for Hiruyasu-oji to reconsider his duties. Managing so many accounts cannot be easy. There is large possibility for error." And isn't this just too _low?_ As far as I am aware, Yasino-oji is perfectly capable.

"On the contrary." Yasino-oji pulls a scroll from his sleeve and hands it over to the retainer, who proceeds to take it to Kageyoshi-sama. "I believe it is Minister Imube's accounts that have been failing."

Minister Imube turns an interesting shade of puce. "Why-"

"The Grain Department has seen an increase in budget over the past ten years." Yasino-oji regards his father with a certain level of care. "Yet, we have seen a decrease of six hundred thousand pounds rice imports from Rice Country. I have sent people to check the price of imports, and it is clear that in the past four years, prices have drastically fallen, yet the budget grows each year." Yasino-oji casts a disdainful glance towards Minister Imube. "This became even worse at six years ago, which was exactly the time Minister Imube rose to the position of Minister of Grain."

Kageyoshi-sama frowns. "What do you have to say about yourself, Minister Imube?"

All the cards Yasino-oji has laid on the table leads to a large scale money laundering scheme. I don't know how he is going to use this to expose Consort Ine's plans to kill the man beside her, and raise her own son to the throne, but I am now sure that he had actually thought of a plan before simply charging forwards into the situation with no thought whatsoever.

The Minister of Grain casts wild eyes towards the exits, but he can find no escape from the royal scrutiny. _So Yasino-oji knows how to play the game. I see._ "C-consort I-"

"Anata." Consort Ine murmurs. "It must have been an accounting mistake."

"It wasn't one." Yasino-oji stalks towards Minister Imube. "Now tell me, what were you about to say?"

Minister Imube's mouth twitches frantically, and he casts glances up at Consort Ine and then back at Yasino-oji who is circling him like a prowling tiger. "C-consort Ine had a propos-I mean, I cannot-"

The scroll lands on the wooden lacquer of the dais. "Ine." Kageyoshi-sama turns towards the woman at his side, who looks like she's just bitten into a peach, and found a worm at the center. "What does he mean?"

"Ana-" The look on the Daimyo's face must have been enough to cow her into changing her tactics. "This one is sorry, Kageyoshi-sama, but-"

"But?" Kageyoshi Minamaru stands before his consort, his face contorting with rage. "Have I not spent enough money on you? Did you need to install a relative of yours to funnel money towards your own pursuits?" He doesn't turn his head. "Yasino, how much money was it, that was lost?"

"Sixty million ryo." Yasino-oji replies without missing a beat. "Last year." _Sixty million ryo. Where has that actually been going?_

"Sixty million-" Kageyoshi-sama sits down, heavily. "Tea." He murmurs, and the female guardian, I assume that she is the one named Tuou that Asuma had mentioned earlier, steps forward with a cup. "I need tea."

"Here, Kageyoshi-sama." She offers him a teacup, and Kageyoshi-sama drains it without a single word.

From the corner of my eye, I spot Yasino-oji's delighted smile. _I'm so glad you're finally winning._

"Yasino." Kageyoshi-sama turns back to his eldest son. "You have done this country a great service. No matter what thoughts you might have had about leaving the capital, it is clear that we cannot afford to lose you."

Yasino-oji bows. "I meant to disprove that rumor, Chichi-ue." He does not rise, but the small smile playing on his lips is heartwarming. "My first duty is service to Fire Country. I could not possibly leave." He straightens, and pulls a second scroll out of his sleeve. "But I am afraid that I have more bad news to report." He hands it to the retainer who passes it to Kageyoshi-sama. "I've recently unearthed an assassination attempt on your life." Kageyoshi-sama scans the scroll, his frown growing more pronounced with each line.

Consort Ine is still on her knees, but she casts Yasino-oji a hateful glance.

Asahano's grip on his sword hilt is tight enough to cause his hands to shake, and turn his knuckles rice paper white.

"Ine." The Daimyo rasps as he raises his eyes from the scroll. "What have you been doing with the money?"

Consort Ine does not respond. It is Asahano who steps forward. "Chichi-ue." He drops as well, crawling towards the dais on his hands and knees. "Please, Haha-ue has long been your consort, whatever amount of money that she has taken inappropriately-"

"Money?" Kageyoshi-sama's hands tremble with fury as he sets the scroll down. "She meant to take my life."

"If that is the case, Kageyoshi-sama," Minister Nakatomi steps forward. "I must ask that you punish the vile woman accordingly."

"Surely not," Another Minister steps forward, but I do not know his name. "How are we to ascertain that Consort Ine is not being falsely implicated?" He tips his head in Yasino-oji's direction. "It is no offense to Hiruyasu-oji, of course, but the scroll cannot be considered evidence."

"I can be considered evidence." Kitane-san strides in through a side door. "Consort Ine contacted me directly to attempt to bribe my loyalty, I suspect the other Guardians have been similarly propositioned." He speaks toward the court at large. "Are bribing the Guardians the actions of a loyal consort?" He turns his face to Kageyoshi-sama who looks ashen and pale, rubbing his chest absently with a hand as though he expects a blade lodged there. "I must ask that you punish the Consort Ine, Kageyoshi-sama."

"But if that is not enough proof for you." Asuma and Chiriku appear as well dragging the two members of the Imube Clan with them. "We have these two members of the Imube clan who were in contact with Hiruhitzen-oji." Asahano pales, his shoulders trembling. "Who have been in a plot to take Yasino-oji's life by bribing the imperial doctors."

"I see." Kageyoshi-sama's voice is terrifyingly flat. "So I nurtured my love for you. I favored your son above all others. And this is how you repay me: you want my life, and my son's life." He does not turn to look at Consort Ine, who has now began to weep.

"If Asahano couldn't be Daimyo, what would your favor do for him?" She cuts a truly pitiful figure, weeping on her hands and knees, ugly hacking sobs not the least bit like a lady ought. "Wouldn't it spur so much jealousy from your eldest son that it ruins his future? If Hiruyasu-oji becomes Daimyo after you, will he not hurt my children?"

 _Wasn't it always you who was jealous that Yasino-oji lived, year after year until they grew into adulthood? Weren't you the one who thought that your son should be Daimyo and set off the whole feud?_

"You-" Kageyoshi-sama staggers to his feet, his face pale. "You-" He does not finish the sentence. His hand is still against his chest, and he coughs, blood spraying across the dais.

"Kageyoshi-sama!" The two Guardians on the dais move towards him.

Asahano draws his sword and rushes towards Yasino-oji, who's back is turned while regarding his royal father with an inordinate amount of worry. "Chichi-ue?" He takes a step forward towards the dais, seeming hesitant to step onto it.

Consort Ine picks up the tea set, and pours herself a shaky cup of tea.

My hand closes over Asahano's wrist, as Ichi's jaws close over his legs. "Stop this." I give it a warning squeeze. "Or I will break your wrist."

He pulls a knife from somewhere beneath his haori, and lunges at me with his other hand. I duck, and twist. I hear the bones in his wrist slide against one another and _crack._

"Maa...I think that's enough, Asahano-chan!" Kakashi sing songs. I look up. He's got a kunai to Asahano's throat.

Asahano slumps, and I let go of him. Kakashi has things under control here. I look for Yasino-oji.

The scene on the dais is...not good. Yasino-oji is cradling his father. Consort Ine is in a heap on the floor, her shoulders shaking as she coughs. _Poison in the tea. The tea was poisoned._ It is most likely Consort Ine who had arranged to poison the tea, but now that she's been exposed...perhaps she's chosen suicide as her alternative.

We've neutralized Asahano.

The ministers are in complete chaos, perhaps at the confusion that is happening right before them, but no one's stepping out to help the Imube clan.

"Y-yasino." Kageyoshi-sama coughs once more, blood bubbling over his lips.

"Call for the imperial doctor!" Yasino-oji raises wild eyes towards the crowd. "Someone! Please!"

"Yasino." Kageyoshi-sama has his hand against his elder son's face now. "I was never-" He breaks out into another cough. "Never good to you." The corners of his lips have curled into a bitter smile. "I always thought-I would have to bury you. It, is a pity that our roles are reversed."

"No." Yasino-oji breathes. "No. You will be well again, Chichi-ue." He raises his head. "Get the imperial doctor!" He shrieks at the confused mass of ministers.

The strain of a sickly child. _If you had always expected to lose someone, would you ever love them as much as the children you did not expect to lose?_

Kageyoshi-sama staggers to his feet, Yasino-oji supporting him. "My last ordinance." He shakes off Yasino-oji's hands, and stands alone. After so many years of being easily led, and easily swayed, he stands alone at last. "My last ordinance. I name Yasino unequivocally the seventeenth Daimyo of Fire Country." He breaks into coughs, shuddering against the tables. "From the Kageyoshi clan."

He'd declared it so in front of the entire court. It is done.

And then he crumples.

* * *

The imperial doctor declared the Daimyo officially dead half an hour later, Consort Ine following him into death a few minutes afterwards. Only Yasino-oji had been allowed in the sickroom. After Minister Nakatomi had regained his senses, he'd called guards to drag the three Imube men and Asahano to the closest prison cells.

I am the first to enter the room after the imperial doctor had made his statement. Yasino-oji is slumped by the deathbed. He looks shaken, but not entirely defeated.

"Yasino-oji?" I don't really know what to say. He'd fought so hard for Kageyoshi-sama to love him, and he seems to have finally succeeded, but now Kageyoshi-sama is dead.

He looks up at me, his eyes tired. "It might be better this way." He says. "Chichi-ue would have found a way in his heart to pardon them." He smiles, wane and thin. "At least now-at least like this-"

"At least like this you don't have to see it?" And my heart breaks for him. _What must it be like to be grateful for this? Grateful for the last half hour of acknowledgement?_

"Lady Inuzuka?" He takes my hand. "What is your Chichi-ue like?"

I have half a mind to tell him that Tou-san is dead, but I pause. "Chichi is...short of words." I say instead. "He forgets his bento nearly everyday. He is careful, sure of himself." And I am telling him about my father, the father that is as much mine as Inuzuka Kaito. "He paints flowers, and his calligraphy is excellent, and he cares very much for Konoha."

Yasino-oji laughs. "Your Chichi-ue is short of words?" He looks at me, eyes dancing with amusement. "I find that so hard to believe." _Chichi, well, Chichi is very different from me._ But Yasino-oji's smiling when he rises. "The rest I can see though. Does he love you?"

I think back to the minute twitch in Chichi's eyes as he tells me that he is vain. I remember his chair clattering to the floor when it seemed that Danzo had made a move to take me away from him. "Yes." I smile back at Yasino-oji. "He loves me."

Yasino-oji nods absently. _How lucky you are._ I almost hear him say. "That is good." Is all that he actually says. "We should go."

Go out and face the crowds. Go out and face the courtiers who must now about face, and treat him with respect.

At the doorway he pauses. "Lady Inuzuka," He sighs. "Please call me Yasino." He looks down at me. "Just Yasino."

"Only if you call me, Hana." I look up at him, at his tired face, his slumped shoulders, his shaking hands. "Then I will call you, Yasino."

"Kageyoshi-sama!" A retainer rushes towards us. "Kageyoshi-sama! When do you wish to hold the Coronation?" _Kageyoshi-sama is-Yasino-oji isn't Yasino-oji anymore. He is Kageyoshi-sama now._

The Triplets growl at the man. "Stay away!" The man does not speak dog. He does not care.

 _Is that why he wants to be called Yasino? He has no one left willing to call him Yasino on a daily basis._

I am again struck by the sense of chill. The Chrysanthemum Court is dangerous and cold. No one really survives it. No one really outlives it.

Yasino glances at me. "Two days from now." He sounds tired as he pulls me along with him down the hall, through the crowd of people, Kakashi and the Triplets falling into step behind us.

"My lady?" Kakashi asks.

I tap my fingers across his arm. "Mission. Success. Soon."

He nods, and taps back. "Good. Home. Soon." It's been three weeks and two days. We only have five days, but it seems strangely enough, that we are closer to the goal than ever before.

For the first time since I've arrived in Kakunodate, I am calm.

* * *

We don't see Yasino at all for the next day and a half as he is swept into a whirlwind of preparations and as he works through various backlogged issues. Instead, Kakashi and I go search for that pool of koi that he's convinced still exists, in the baking heat of the June sun. We find it in Morimo-oji's gardens.

"I didn't think we would actually succeed." He remarks out of the blue as he dips his feet in the koi pool. The fish come around to nibble at his feet.

I throw a handful of water at him, made easier by chakra. "That's so mean!" I agree with him though. There were points where it seemed impossible. And now, things are almost idyllic.

He launches a wave at me. "It's my job to be mean." His eye smile looks so mocking. So, so mocking. I am drenched.

I take a few steps back, a running start, and slam him into the koi pool.

We break the surface. He coughs out a mouthful of water and pulls the mask down to glare at me with his single eye. "Hana-chan!"

I burst out laughing. "I wouldn't have been able to do it, if you didn't let me." He's humoring me, and we both know it. _Hatake Kakashi is ANBU level. He wouldn't survive if random ten year olds are capable of dunking him, whenever they wanted to._

Behind me, Ni takes a flying leap at the pool. Water sprays over us again.

Both of us laugh until we're just weakly treading water. Kakashi pulls his mask back on hurriedly. _Why-oh._ I tilt my head to the side. _Footsteps._

"Kakashi?" And it's Asuma, who's appeared at the pool's edge. He looks like he's seen a ghost. "Are you-oh never mind." He shakes his head. "The Daimyo wants his Lady Inuzuka. He says he's about to go mad."

I climb out of the pool, and shake myself off, dog style. I'm still soaked, and back into my typical outfit. "Does he want me now, or later?" _Do I have time to change?_

"He wanted you two hours ago." Asuma shades his eyes against the glare of the sun. "And I'm sure he's about to chew the head off of someone by now."

I nod. "I see." Something about this parallels the first time I've been summoned. "I bet he wants me to go drink tea with him." I mutter, it's half a joke, because of course, now that everything has changed, it wouldn't be tea not now.

"Actually." Asuma rubs his day old stubble. "It's tea."

I groan. "Kakashi, do you want to come with me to take tea with a tiger?"

Kakashi shrugs. "Nope." He smiles at me. "I'll sit here and catch up with Asuma, yeah?"

I glare at him. "Traitor." The Triplets also elect to not come along. Apparently keeping an eye on the Irritating Kakashi is more important than any tiger that might try to eat me.

* * *

"I'm sorry, I'm late." I bow forward. It's the same pavilion before the pagoda that we'd first been officially introduced. He's sitting with his back to me, dressed in black, gold dragons stitched across his back. His hair has been pulled up around that god awful headpiece. There is no green. It seems as though the last three inches of his hair has been chopped off. Perhaps it was a sign of his princehood. Perhaps it was a sign of childhood, and now that he is Daimyo, even if not officially coronated, it means that he can no longer wear a high tail.

"Ah, yes." He says. It sounds so pretentious, but it mirrors our first actual conversation perfectly. "The newest lady in court, Lady Inuzuka." He's doing it on purpose, I realize. _He wants to relive this memory._ But no matter how he tries, we can't exactly return to that memory. There are retainers and courtiers hanging about, and guards, Tuou is standing on the outside of the pavilion.

I take a seat across from him, and set a hand against the pitcher to heat it up. "It's hot." I observe.

He shrugs. "They insisted that I get a refill." He pours tea for me. "Is there no way that I can keep you?" He leans forward. "I can offer you anything you'd like."

 _He's lonely._ I shake my head. "There is no way that you can keep me." I twist my hands around under the table. There's something about this scene that bothers me. _It's just tea. Tea._

 _The Daimyo had tea. He'd been poisoned. The tea had been poisoned._

And I see the scene again in my mind eye. Kageyoshi-sama hurriedly drinking a cup of tea. Yasino's delighted smile. My blood cools slightly, but I do not want to consider the thought. _Yasino did not kill his own father. It was someone else._ Tuou had poured the tea for Kageyoshi-sama, the same Tuou who is now standing guard over Yasino.

He'd called for an imperial doctor, a doctor, not Chiriku-san. He had not called for the only medic that he trusted. Chiriku-san had been right there.

I ignore the thought. "I have my family that I must return to." _I need your good graces, but it would be worse if I never saw any of them again, if I just stayed here forever._

 _It would be worse than even possibly than listening to Danzo talking at me for the next few years._

He nods. "I understand." He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. "I understand." There's something sad in his eyes. "I won't keep you then. Your plans. I'll approve of them after the coronation. You'll be able to go home at ease."

"Thank you." I want to tell him that I am sorry that I cannot stay, but the words can't work their way past my lips.

* * *

"And we announce the next Daimyo." A priest blesses the throne. "And we name Kageyoshi Hiruyasu, seventeenth Daimyo of Fire Country."

Yasino takes the five steps up the dais, and pauses for a moment before he sits down on the Chrysanthemum Throne. "Everyone." He says, the palace gates have been opened to the city today, everyone from rich to poor is here to see the next Daimyo crowned. "I have one announcement to make, before we begin the festivities." He holds a hand out to me. "Lady Inuzuka."

I take a step forward, but he beckons me forwards, I take another step, and then another, and another until I am standing before him on the dais. He beckons to a retainer, who steps forward. "For your role in saving my life this past month." He picks up the hairpins, wolves. They are wolves, black like the ones on my shoulders. "I name Lady Inuzuka, the ninth princess." He leans down and kisses my cheek. "Welcome to the family, imouto." He slides the hairpins into my hair. "I name her Inu-hime, with all the prestige that the title offers."

I am frozen to the spot.

I'd been named imperial princess. Ninth Princess.

With all the prestige and political power the title offers.

"Thank you." I can only offer him my thanks. I can't give him much else.

"This way," He murmurs. "I can call you back once a year or so." He hands me a scroll. "I approve of your plans for reconstruction, Hana." He leans in and whispers in my ear. "Show me the power you've invoked in court this month. Prove to me that it is not wrong of me to believe in your social progress."

 _He'd read my papers. He believes that I can do_ it.

I accept the scroll with both hands, and slide it into my sleeve.

And then he offers me an arm, and we walk down into the celebrations together.

* * *

"Are you sure that I can't keep you?" Yasino's come down to the palace gates to see me off. I have his written declaration. I have his spoken approval in front of a full court. I have both two days before my deadline. _I did not expect,_

 _But I had hoped._

It's Kakashi who responds for me. "My lady has duties to fulfill as a soldier of Konoha." He squeezes my shoulder once, comfortingly.

I smile up at Yasino. "Yes. I'm sure."

He sighs. "Then I bid you and your guard good fortune on the trip back."

We take the road out into the city, through the market that I knew better than to gawp at this time.

"We're going home." I remark quietly, as the road melts back into rolling, thickly forested hills. This has been the longest mission that I've been on. The two chunin exams had been longer than a month's time, and farther away, but, but somehow this is different. _It's the first long mission that I've been on without Sensei and my team._

"Yes. We're going home." Kakashi agrees, reading once more. He ruffles my hair. "Can I say that I'm glad I do not have to call you my lady anymore?"

I glare at him, one for messing up my hair, and two for suggesting something so stupid. "You know, you did not have to pretend to be my bodyguard. You could have just been my mission partner."

"Ah, but that wouldn't have been fun, Hana-chan!" He singsongs and dives forward as Ichi's teeth snap shut where his thigh had been moments before. "And call off your dogs!"

I laugh, and race after him. "No! That wouldn't be fun, Kakashi."

* * *

 **A.N.** So I have promised. So I deliver. This chapter, the last one of the arc, is over 7000 words. In it we have Yasino's ruse to call court back into session. The upheaval. The Daimyo's death (Which Hana has now inadvertently caused. O.o) Yasino's coronation, and transition into being Daimyo, and several loose strings, because Hana is not involved in those. Whether or not Yasino was responsible for poisoning his own father...well.

Hana doesn't want to think about it.

Thank you so much to CasJeanne, EverBear01 (Ah, that's really early! I too own a cat, he's adorable.), fluffpenguin (That's really fascinating. I'm not entirely a science person despite choosing bio as my major *sweatdrop* so medical things are well...I try, but I learned a new thing! Thank you for teaching me about it.), ManawaSasa, AnimeFreak71777 (:P), n1ghtdr34m3r (Yeah, Yasino has been sheltered for much of his life. That, and he has people to buy things for him.), BlackDove White Dove, libraryrockerr (I believe it is definitely a very strong friendship.), Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf (Haha, I'm actually a cat person in real life as well, but dogs are cool.), angrypixels, Love Stories00 (Yeah, Kakashi is becoming...happier? More committed to staying alive? It's difficult to say exactly what's different, but he's slowly getting better.), WhiteFang001 (And now he will truly have to live.), Lost-Tribe Daughter (Oh gosh. I'm sorry about the mixup! I try not to, but I'm still sorry...), Shion Lee (I'm getting to the Fugaku perspective! This week, I can feel it. It's going up this week!), Cooked Ghost (Yay! GOT is one of my favorite things. And yes, to Asuma who last saw Kakashi at the Yondaime's funeral...this is like stepping into an alternate dimension.), Yuki Suou (I'm so glad!), DarkLunar1312 (Welcome to Bloodless! I'm glad you like it so far. *Checks number of chapters* I didn't realize how long it would take to read everything until now...wow. But yeah, my younger sis writes the more humorous stuff. She also has more of mother on FFnet, I believe, but she's editing and reposting on AO3. I'm glad you like both of our stories though!) and Ob Inc for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina


	65. Entanglements Arc: One

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I unroll the scroll that Yasino-nii had offered me at his coronation on the way back home.

"We grant Inuzuka Hana, hereafter referred to by us as our sister, Inu-hime, four million ryo for her new building project in the ninth district of Konoha. We leave up to her current plans, the social aspects of rehabilitating the district formerly named Yoshiwara. She has our writ for any assistance that she may request from Konoha's Civilian Council. In light of this, We leave our great uncle Nakatomi Goro, chairman of the Civilian Council within Kohonagakure no Sato to assist Lady Inuzuka as she request and as necessary, up to his discretion. Undersigned, Kageyoshi Hiruyasu, Seventeenth Daimyo of Fire Country." A very official chrysanthemum seal crossed with his first name is affixed beneath his signature.

He is...basically allowing me free reign, and forcing every single person on the Civilian Council to bow to my whims like they are nothing more than rice paper. The thought is heady. but also somewhat dangerous. I roll it up again, and consider my situation.

 _Do I even know enough about what I want to do?_ I know that I want to build schools. I know that I want to destroy the current brothel system. I'd drawn building plans, and decided that the district needed more food, but what did I know about how to build social change?

What if they didn't care to change? What if I'd misread the situation? _Well._ I decide carefully. _It is time to go back and talk to Suzaku-san about everything._

"Hana?" San nudges my hand. "Hana?"

I pat him on the head, and card my fingers down through his back. "What is it?"

Ni bumps up against my other side. "Ichi's betrayed us." If he could giggle, I'm sure he'd be giggling, but at the moment, his tongue is just hanging out of his mouth, in something like a dog's version of a shit eating grin.

I blink. "Wha-" _Oh._ And there Ichi is, walking with Kakashi in front of us. Kakashi's still reading his beloved Icha Icha Paradise, and his other hand is absently scratching behind Ichi's ears. They seem content enough.

I muffle a giggle. "At least they look happy?" I offer.

Ni and San chuckle, and Ichi turns around to glare at them both. "You two were traitors first." He snarls, but there's no heat in it, his eyes are half moon slits, and his tail wags slightly.

"Don't blame them." Kakashi mumbles without looking up from his book. "I will have you know that I am a dog magnet." The thought makes me giggle. _Dog magnet? Really? I so didn't notice how many dogs you have, Kakashi._

I pick up the pace so that I can walk beside him. "If I didn't know the entire clan dossier," I muse. "I would swear that you're at least part Inuzuka."

He shrugs. "Nope. Not the least bit related, Hana-chan." He leans down to eye smile at me. "But you seem to pick up relatives like normal little girls pick up hair care products."

I prod his cheek with a finger. "That implies that I don't care about any of those people." I stick my tongue out at him. "Maybe I'll add you too, someday." I tap a finger against my chin as we keep walking. "Hmmm..." It's a strange thing to joke about this, but he's the one that brought up my propensity to stumble into these sorts of situations. "Somehow you know, I seem to find myself with enough brothers...I'll need to find a different category for you."

He groans. "Enough brothers?" He starts ticking them off on his fingers. "Your two darling otouto who enjoy pranking cats, your Uchiha heir, and now a daimyo? Who's next?"

I blink at him. "You forgot Toku, Muta, and Shisui." Now that I think about it..."And doesn't that mean that I'm related to all of the other princes too?" The thought is...strange.

He eye smiles and ruffles my hair. "Worry about that later, Hana-chan!" We keep walking. "At any rate, did you get what you came for?"

I offer him the scroll. "I can order people around now, in the name of Yasino-nii." I nod, satisfied to myself. "And I won't have to become Elder Shimura's apprentice."

* * *

We find ourselves back inside Konoha later that afternoon, on the last Sunday of June. "Shall we return to the Hokage's Council?" I ask as we approach the gate. If I am not mistaken, the monthly meeting is later today.

"Maa...Kakashi doesn't look up from his book as he dangles his registration card in front of the gate guard. "That means we have to finish the mission report before that..."

I frown up at him, while searching for my own registration card. "Why do I suspect that even if I gave you a week I'd still be the one to write it?"

"Well, you'd be-"

"Hana?"

I jerk my head back up to the gate guard. "Toku?" I look around. "Oh, and Ita-kun!" They are manning the gate together, which has to be the strangest thing I've seen because...they are both apprenticed. They oughtn't be sitting around here for goodness knows how long on gate guard duty. "Don't tell me that Kiho-baachan has given in and let Sensei slack off."

Ita-kun shifts and runs a hand through his longer hair. "Hana," He pulls me aside. "Sensei, Sensei's-"

A pit opens up in my stomach. "What's wrong with Sensei?" I hadn't mentioned the shadowy thing with Kiho-baachan, because I'd thought she knew everything there is to know about Sensei, but maybe she didn't know, maybe Sensei'd kept the shadow a secret from her. What had I done to Sensei because I hadn't said anything?

"There's nothing wrong with Sensei." Toku frowns and crosses his arms. "It's Kiho-baachan." He leans in and whispers, even though this does nothing to exclude Kakashi. "Kiho-baachan was going to tell you when you got back, but-" He breaks off, and scuffs the dirt with a shoe. "There's no reason to get baby clothes after all."

I sit down in the dirt, dust rising around me in a puff. "Kiho-baachan had a miscarriage?" The thought hadn't ever crossed my mind. With Suzaku-san's insinuations, I hadn't thought it would be-but it didn't mean it wasn't true. It didn't make the dull throb under my heart any less real. I'd lost a sibling, a little brother or sister to play with, and take to teahouses and-

I don't want to believe that it's true.

"Sensei took it really hard." Ita-kun squats down beside me. "It happened only a week ago, and." His voice drops softer. "I don't know if he's going to be okay. I think you need to go and see him, Hana. He's been-"

Toku shakes his head. "Sensei taking it hard is an understatement."

"I can imagine." I murmur. _What must that be like?_ I have no way of knowing. For a man who loved as deeply as Sensei, losing a child for no reason that he can help would cut him to pieces. _And he didn't have the best of mental states before that._

And that explains so well why they are on gate guarding duty. Things probably aren't the greatest in the Nara-Yamanaka house at the moment. I doubt Sensei or Kiho-baachan would be up teaching. I don't even know if Sensei is still sane, or if Kiho-baachan is okay or- "I'll go see them right away." I close my eyes and breath out. _Mission debrief can wait until later._

I look up at Kakashi, who is still standing awkwardly off to the side. "Are you going to wait, or should I suggest that we meet again at the tower at about five?"

He shrugs. "I'll stand outside."

He can do that if he'd like. I don't know how Sensei would take it, but he can do it if he likes.

I hug Toku and Itachi, and we stitch ourselves back into our team dynamic once again. Each of the Triplets licks their cheeks in turn. "We're sorry." Ichi barks. "We'll come back to sit with you."

"I'll be back soon." This month hadn't been good to me, but it hasn't been all encompassing bad either. I can read their unhappiness in their faces.

"It's okay." Toku sighs, and sits back down. "It's just been, it's just been a bad week, you know?"

"They're back at the house now." Ita-kun adds, as he sits down again, smoothing professionalism back over his features. "Kiho-baachan's not in the hospital anymore."

"Thank you." I brush my fingers over his shoulder as I pass through the gate, the Triplets and Kakashi following behind.

* * *

I take off my shoes in the dark foyer at Sensei's house, and pad down the hallway to the kitchen in my socks. There are a week's worth of dishes in the sink, flies gathering over the decaying food on the table. It looks like no one has bothered to live in the house in ages.

The living room is covered with papers. It looks like a whirlwind had gone through Sensei's things, there are pages torn from books, the tea table is overturned. The shattered glass on the floor shines dully in the dim light. But what is most disconcerting are the bottles.

The floor is covered with empty sake bottles, and shattered cups.

 _Kami._ I turn my attention to the couch. "Sensei?" There's a shape there, dark enough to be Sensei. I pick my way through the trash and shattered things toward him.

The shape twitches, and peels itself away from the couch, a bottle slipping from a hand and shattering against the floor. Sensei looks like he's been dragged through hell. "Hana?" He doesn't sound drunk.

Despite the bottles, he doesn't sound drunk. I take it as a good thing, and continue onward. "Is there anything I can do?"

He pulls me close, and now I can smell the alcohol clings to him so heavily that I'm surprised he hasn't given himself alcohol poisoning. His entire frame shudders, and I trace the gaunt hallowness of his cheek with misgiving. _A week? A week and he looks like he's lost twenty pounds?_

"Hana." He breaths in my hair. "You're safe." He's shaking, shaking uncontrollably. "Safe." He murmurs. "Safe. Safe. Safesafesafe-"

"Yes." I respond. "I am safe." I don't pull myself away, despite his suffocating grip. He needs to know that his children are safe. "Sensei?" I ask. "How is Kiho-baachan?"

He laughs, bitter, broken, and forty types of shattered all in one. "Kiho?" He runs a hand through my hair, and sighs. "I've let her rest." He's bringing his shaking under control slowly. "She's in the bedroom."

"By getting drunk?" I look around at the living room. "How will she rest if you are losing your mind here in the living room?"

For the first time, he sits himself up, and looks almost ashamed. "I never did tell you that I was an alcoholic did I?" He laces his fingers together, and sits there, hunched, with his hands clasped. "I haven't slipped this bad since-" _Since Tou-san died? Since you took on a team?_ I don't know what he means to say, and he does not clarify. He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter now."

I lean into his shoulder. "I'm not blaming you, Sensei." I slide off the couch to kneel before him, sake staining my knees. "I just don't like seeing you like this." I can't wrap my hands around his, but I can hold them.

The corner of his mouth tilts up in a broken crooked smile. "You sound like both of your parents, Hana." He pulls a hand free to tuck my hair behind my ear. "Your parents." He whispers again.

"You are also my parent." He's burned and bruised and more than a little drunk despite his seeming lack of impairment. There's been no lazy drawl, no-well, plenty of things about Sensei have been stripped away. All the things he's projected as his self to the world are gone. The grief has scoured everything and left only the truth of him behind, and the truth of him is that he is a man who loves too deeply and hurts too deeply and drinks too much. Sensei lived in extremes no matter how much he tries to hide it. "You're my sensei, and I love you."

His dark eyes slide closed. "I've been calling other people's children my own." And perhaps it's not just that he's lost a child, but that he somehow feels inadequate now. He'd never thought to care whether or not we had parents before, he'd loved us deeply and unabashedly all the same. But now, now he's questioning whether or not the past three years he'd been living in a fabrication of his own heart.

"You are our parent." I feel safe enough to say this. "You've taught us. You've loved us. You've sacrificed for us, given up your time, protected us. You've been everything that-"

He leans forward and kisses my forehead. "Enough." He whispers, voice hoarse. "I won't make the mistake of calling you not my daughter again, yes?"

"Yes." I reply, and pull him up with me. "Now, let's go find Kiho-baachan."

* * *

Her pale hair spills over the pillows like a halo, brittle in the afternoon sunshine. Her back is turned towards the door. "Kiho?" Sensei calls as he crosses the threshold, still stumbling a bit, but it doesn't matter.

He's here now.

"Sui." Her hand twitches, and her shoulder shakes imperceptibly.

He stumbles to her bedside, and drops to his knees before her. "I'm a goddamned fool, aren't I?"

Her hand comes up to cup his face, his week old beard. "No. You've been yourself." I can't see her face, but it seems that grief has left only the truth of her as well.

It feels too much like I don't belong here. I step back into the hallway, to where Ichi is waiting. "Watch Sensei and Kiho-baachan." I murmur. "I'm going to go get Kaa-san."

Kaa-san might be the only person I know that could help, except perhaps-no. There is someone better I can find. "Actually." I murmur. "I'm going to find Mikoto-san." Itachi was supposed to have a sister.

Mikoto-san and Chichi know how they are they are feeling right now.

"Yes." Ichi responds, and flops down to wait. "Don't be gone too long." He whines, his head on his front paws. "It's not good to wait."

* * *

"Mikoto-san?" I ask as I cross the threshold of Itachi's house. I'd told Kakashi that we should probably wait until tonight for the debriefing. There's just too much to accomplish right now. "Can I ask you something?"

She bustles out of the sitting room, a smile on her face. "Oh, Hana-chan! You're home! I have to ask you about-" But she must have noticed something on my face, because she pauses and takes a long look at me. "What's wrong?"

"S-sensei and Kiho-baachan." I don't know how to say this, and I'm left staring at my feet instead. "Kiho-baachan lost her child." I say at last, what else can I say but the truth, in the bluntest form possible?

Mikoto-san gasps. "That's-" She sets a hand on my shoulder, and guides me down towards her room. "Oh that's horrible." She rubs her eyes with her other hand, and starts wrapping up food and pulling out tea sets. "I'll be right over, Hana-chan." She sets a hand on her hip, and sighs. "Itachi, that boy." She shakes her head. "He's just like his father, never says a word."

And it's just strange to think of Itachi being much like Chichi at all, but I guess it's true in a sense. Itachi doesn't seem to be able to tell his Kaa-san much. "Are you alright, Hana-chan?"

"It's-it's just hard to think about." I respond. "I hadn't thought-"

"Thought it was possible?" Mikoto-san finishes with the food, and moves towards the clothing, and other implements. "These things are always possible." She takes a deep breath, and squares her shoulders. "It's how we deal with them that matters most, you know."

I nod. "Yes."

She gestures for me to follow her, as she swings her basket over her shoulders. "I'll go over to see them, you report straight home to Tsume-chan so that they can have a friend over, yes?" She pauses by the door, and sighs. "I don't know how Kihona-san would take to me being there to help her."

And I remember again, that Kiho-baachan and Mikoto-san aren't really on speaking terms. I feel bad about asking her now, but I can't very well take it back. "I-I'm sorry." I offer.

She laughs, and it's clear and bright. "No, Hana-chan. Never be sorry for seeking help." She brushes my tears away from my face. "It's not your fault that this has happened. Nothing about this must be born by you and you alone."

I nod. "I'll try to remember."

* * *

Kaa-san and Mikoto-san had arrayed themselves in true battle formation in Kiho-baachan's kitchen. Mikoto-san started clearing out the signs of decay and washing the dishes as I dried, and Kaa-san, with her head thrown back and shoulders set, braved the living room.

They'd become quite productive by the time Kiho-baachan and Sensei stagger out of their bedroom. "Mikoto?" It's Kiho-baachan who seems most surprised by the woman in her kitchen.

"I heard you needed someone to listen, Kihona-chan." Mikoto-san comments mildly. "And I didn't think it needed to be Inoichi."

"Niichan would be overworried." Kiho-baachan concedes, and sits down at the kitchen table, despite how much she hates it when anyone else does much in her kitchen.

"Life gets up and goes on." Mikoto-san comments without ever turning around. "But it's best to talk to someone who knows what it's like." She finally does turn around, dark eyes meeting Kiho-baachan's teal. "How do you feel?"

"What does guilt taste like?" Kiho-baachan responds. "Because I taste it clawing it's way up my throat." Sensei has his eyes closed, but I can see him wince.

I would go to him, but Mikoto-san passes me another plate, and I am again, busy drying.

"Oh," Mikoto-san smiles wanely. "It's a taste that never goes away." She sits down at the table with Kiho-baachan, and sets her own hand over Kiho-baachan's. "But we continue to live, because there are other people that need us." She laughs a little. "That's all that we can say, you know. That we go on."

I drift over to Sensei, and he leans his head against my shoulder, but doesn't say a word. We'd said all we really needed to say earlier.

"You've had other children since." Kiho-baachan whispers. "I don't know-"

"Yes." Mikoto-san says, and she looks faded in the light of the dying sun. "But the loss is a permanent thing, and sometimes it's muted, but it never goes away."

"Hey, Mikoto?" Kaa-san pokes her head back around the door. "Do you think I need to yell at En-kun again? He's been so irresponsible with his living room. It's a trash dump honestly."

Kiho-baachan gets to her feet, with a glare towards Sensei. "You did what to the living room?" She stalks over to him, and drags him over by the ear. "This is how you want to live? You're letting other people help us clean this dump?" She shakes her head. "Waste of Space is a good name for you, honestly."

He raises a pointed eyebrow at her and gestures towards the kitchen. "And you?" He drawls. "What've you been doing, Vicious Hag?"

They stare at each other for a long moment, and burst into side splitting laughter. There's a note of hysteria in there somewhere, but perhaps it is enough that they no longer sound defeated. They might be bent and twisted out of shape, but they seem like they'll survive. From the corner of my eye, I spot Mikoto-san and Kaa-san sending each other significant looks. I let out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding. _They'll be alright._

 _They'll pick each other back up and move on._

I rap Ichi on the head. "We've gotta go." I nod to Kaa-san as I make my way out the door. "I haven't reported for my mission debrief yet, Kaa-san. I'll be back later."

She ruffles my hair. "I assume it went well."

"Hana is a princess now!" Ni barks. "A real live princess!" He dances excitedly on all four feet, bouncing up and down like a rubber ball.

My mouth drops open. I'd planned to break the news to Kaa-san slowly, but if this is the way he wants to break it, well, no time like the present.

"You're a what?" Kaa-san says flatly. "A what?"

"A princess." I smile cheekily at her. "I've gained some new brothers, and one of them's a ruler." And then I race out the door for the mission debrief, because Kaa-san's about to pounce, and then not even the excuse of Kakashi's lateness rubbing off would save me.

Kaa-san follows behind at a much more sedate pace, calling out apologies to her friends as she goes.

* * *

As it turns out, I slide into the Council Meeting chamber just minutes before the Hokage himself. Chichi glances at me sharply, a question in his dark eyes. I tap out my excitement in Konoha Standard on his arm as I pass, and Danzo clears his throat. "I hope." He comments, in a manner that is not entirely gentle, but not harsh either. "That this was not how you acted in the Capital, Heiress Inuzuka."

"Oh, come on, Elder Shimura." Shikaku-san groans, as he leans back in his chair, his hands laced against the back of his neck, his eyes half closed, posture casual. "Please, not this again. Play your admonishments later, you've been baiting Inuzuka-chan ever since last month."

I smile politely back at Danzo. My buoyancy at having won his game affords me an amount of forgiveness for his unfortunate remarks. "But Elder Shimura." I murmur. "I was under such excellent care at the capital that I couldn't be late, not even for a boating party." _I wonder what you think of Yasino-nii surviving your boating party._

He chuckles. The sound rings out softly across the room, but no one misses it.

Every single person looks as though they'd been turned to stone. _Does he never laugh?_ I consider it, the Darkness of Shinobi, the Devil Himself, laughing? No. It must be a hallucination.

"It's been years since anyone has had your cheek, Heiress Inuzuka." The smile he sends me can best be described as an attempt to look kind. I find it more chilling than if he'd bared all his teeth and declared his decision to eat me alive.

 _He's in far too good a mood. What's his angle?_

I have no way of knowing. The meeting begins, which means, again, endless debates about tax policies. It seems like even in this world, no one ever wants to be taxed.

* * *

"Now that our other affairs are out of the way." The Sandaime states, as yet another fruitless discussion of tax plans comes to a shuddering halt. "It is time that we consider Heiress Inuzuka's last mission." He nods to me. "Now, Kakashi has reported your mission a success?" Kakashi is nowhere to be found.

I assume he's been reabsorbed into ANBU duties, and that Hound has zero input because he didn't exist during the duration of the mission, and probably spent most of the month non-existent.

Kakashi had gone to a mission debrief by himself before stopping at his apartment? Well, it figured. I'd missed our deadline while drying dishes in Kiho-baachan's kitchen, and surely he wanted to rest. It's a small price to pay.

"Yes." I rise, bow, and hand over Yasino-nii's scroll. "The seventeenth Daimyo of Fire Country Sends his regards."

Danzo sets down his teacup. "The seventeenth?"

I smile back at him politely. "Yes. Kageyoshi Hiruyasu-nii sends his regards."

The chamber freezes for a moment, and then everything comes back with too much clarity. Hyuga Hiashi chokes on his tea. Chouza-san freezes with a chip halfway to his lips. Shikaku-san's chair legs come back down with a harsh click. Inoichi-san blinks rapidly in surprise. Shibi-san merely raises a hand to his dark glasses and sets it back down after adjusting it for a moment. Elder Utatane and Elder Homura share a glance.

And Chichi, oh Chichi looks like he's been punched in the stomach, or had all the air knocked out of him. "What?"

Only Kaa-san seems to be sitting about with a killer's smile on dancing on her lips. The Inuzuka Clan has won a major victory with my victory. _I suppose the Inuzuka may also consider themselves a noble clan after this, on par with the Uchiha, the Hyuga, the Aburame, and the Akimichi now maybe higher, if not older._

 _None of them have had anyone named royalty recently after all._

I bow politely to the chamber. "I have been named an imperial princess at the discretion of the new Daimyo."

"What?" Hyuga Hiashi states flatly. "We send you to the capital and you stage a coup?"

I frown at him. "I did no such thing." Well, perhaps I have, given that I don't know exactly what Yasino-nii did or didn't do, but still. There was no coup staged by me. If anything, I merely fished the leader of a coup out of a lake so that he could stage a coup later. That isn't a crime particularly. "The events just happened in such a way that a new Daimyo has been crowned."

Shikaku-san begins to laugh, first just slight chuckles, but then his entire frame is shaking from mirth. "Oh, that's a good one." His dark eyes glow in the light of the chamber. "That's a really good use of understatement." _Well, I was taught by your cousin, who is the master of the sarcastic understatement. What did you expect? That I would boast about it from the rooftops?_

"I concur." Shibi-san agrees, turning towards Danzo. "Why? Because it seems as though Elder Shimura has had a marvelous amount of foresight."

The Hokage blows out a cloud of smoke at the head of the table. "I must ask you to write a written report of this mission, Heiress Inuzuka, or should I say," And here he raises an eyebrow at me. "Inu-hime? It sounds most interesting."

I flush, slightly. "I am, and have always been merely Inuzuka-chan." I offer. It is only polite. He is the Hokage, after all.

"Oh no, Inu-hime." Shikaku-san drawls, eyes still full of mirth. "We must refer to you by your highest title, and that is Inu-hime."

Inoichi-san leans forward. "Inu-hime." He sighs. "So romantic." His eyes seem full of stars. "I've always wanted to save a princess on a mission." _You didn't feel like saving this princess the last time we spoke._ But I cannot blame him.

Instead, I feel a deep desire to dig a hole in the ground, and die in it.

"Okay, okay." Kaa-san bares her teeth at the gathering. "It's been enough, you two. Knock it off." Shikaku-san still looks slightly mirthful. Kaa-san stands and leans forwards so that they are practically nose to nose. "My daughter ain't your sport, Shikaku."

He leans back in his chair again. "Troublesome." He mutters, but doesn't tack on the word woman. It's probably gotten him kicked in the shins under the table may times before, because Kaa-san is hardly above that.

"Well," Danzo comments pleasantly as he sets down his teacup. "It seems that I must seriously make a bid for Heiress Inuzuka's apprenticeship now." There's something like greed lighting his eyes. "No one's been this successful in speaking to the civilian court in years."

And the walls come crashing down. "Surely it isn't so necessary, Elder Shimura." I venture. I doubt I can be made ROOT now, but his motivations for me seem not to be of the ROOT variety. I still have no idea what they are though. "I haven't much ambition in politics."

He tilts his head to the left. "And yet, as an imperial princess you must play the game."

And curse him. He makes sense. It is hard to blindly hate him when he makes sense.

I have little ground to refuse him. "My work at the police station is still my _job_ , Elder Shimura."

"It would be to your benefit." Elder Utatane remarks. "Elder Shimura works heavily in our diplomatic outreach and with in village politics." _And that is shady political double speak for Elder Shimura messes around so that other people in other countries die when we want them to and runs a weird branch of ANBU that he calls ROOT._

I cast my eyes towards Kaa-san. She nods absently. "If you can find the time for it, Hana-chan. I would hardly be opposed."

And now I've been boxed in on all sides. Kaa-san doesn't find Danzo particularly dangerous, he's a council elder, he's hardly supposed to be dangerous, and if I were to tell her it would make the situation even worse. I stare at my hands, and feel the weight press down. _This was his plan all along._ I realize, resignation weighing heavy. _If I failed, he could just enact the clause in the contract. If I won, he can just do what he's doing now._

But this is a public apprenticeship, it's nothing like anything he's asked of any of his ROOT members. _Surely there's no harm in it?_

Well, I should know better than that by now. To think such a thought of _Danzo_ is blasphemous. There's harm in it for certain, but I don't think it would kill me. At least, I direly hope it won't kill me because I seem to have little choice in the matter.

From the other side of the table, I see Chichi's hands clench into fists, but he does not say a word.

"I will concede that you enjoy your days in the Military Police." Danzo seems to be considering something. "Your apprenticeship will be three days of the week. I ask that you report in the mornings, and I will release you for afternoons. You may do ask you like in the other portions of the day."

That...makes no sense. I have even less idea what he wants from me now. _It's not even a full apprenticeship like Kiho-baachan's with Toku or Sensei's with Ita-kun. Those are much more involved._

I rise and I bow, because I have no choice. I feel sick now, nerves rolling through my stomach. "Then I humble accept, Elder Shimura. Your offer is very generous indeed."

He smiles. "Excellent. I ask for your Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays. From six thirty to noon." He glances over at Chichi. "You can spare your daughter for that long, can't you, Fugaku?" He'd called me Chichi's daughter.

He's found me important to Chichi, and now his leverage is even greater.

"Of course, Elder Shimura." Chichi's teeth grind together, and I hear them catch. His irritation is really unsustainable, at the best of times, and right now, he is more angry than irritated.

I have to do something, something to take Danzo's attention off of Chichi. "Might I ask, Elder Shimura," I murmur, because I am still unsure if he eats. Sure he drinks tea like a normal human being, but is it really indicative of his humanity? "If I should eat breakfast beforehand, or if I ought to bring you yours?" _Given the state of things, if you ask me to bring you breakfast I'd either spit in it, or poison it._ I think to myself.

"Shishou." He corrects absently. "If we are to do this, it must be done correctly, Inuzuka-kun." I've been both upgraded and downgraded to Inuzuka-kun. He means to treat our master-apprentice relationship formally then.

If only I know, what he's apprenticing me _for. Or why he wants to. He has plenty of political power already._

"Of course, Shishou." I murmur. And now I understand why Chichi had started his teeth grinding habit. Shimura Danzo deserved to be kicked down a well, and then skinned. _And the day will come when you will come to regret this._

 _Unfortunately, it isn't today, and it's unlikely to be tomorrow either._

"You wouldn't need to bring me breakfast. Eat yours beforehand." He rises from his chair. "Remember to appear at the tower tomorrow morning." And then he disappears back into the shadows.

* * *

 **A.N.** Hana comes home, and finds that her triumphs are short lived, and her life may be falling apart in different ways. Thus, nothing in life is ever easy.

Let's try to count how many entanglements Hana has now, shall we? And also, let's take a quick poll of who we want to see as a perspective in Ashen that I haven't written about yet!

Also, let's just say that the review answers section is massive. Would you guys like a different format? Would it make things easier?

Thank you so much to Ob Inc, mikurocks1234, E.D99, Dreamy-Girl2016, Real Exter (She'll earn a few names, not all of them pretty.), EverBear01, LittleMissSugarLess, Yuki Suou (What happens to Asahano's sister is a plot point that is supposed to be resolved later. She and her younger brother, and Asahano's own fate have not been forgotten.), Estarc (Well, it's not entirely angsty Danzo arc, but Danzo is inevitable.), WhiteFang001, somedayisours (Yep. Danzo takes no holidays.), CannibalisticApple, Emily D'Lu, CasJeanne, HiddenYori (Well, the people sighing/reacting has not been completed yet.), Grimjow-Girl (Yasino has to be Daimyo-like now. It's hard to give hugs.), Chi-chan, Guest One, Guest Two, Azurebubble (Don't worry! I'm also guilty of the same thing, reading and not reviewing. It's a part of life.), Zeru'Xil (Well, that depends on who's perspective you're looking from. In this case, perhaps Yasino did think it was the right decision.), hasan9206, Guest Three (Bride is still sort of early, but the other stuff...oh it's going to be big.), Bloody-Asphodel11, Shion Lee (I'm glad you liked it!), Pandyisapanda (Well, that was an understatement. Ensui did in fact, lose his mind before she got home.), morpheusandmuse (No. Yasino has been one of my favorite characters. There's a lot of human to him.), MrNekoni (Yeah, no love interests in the capital...), AnimeFreak71777 (:P), fluffpenguin (Oh wow, that's actually really cool. I want to major in Bio, but my knowledge is limited. And Kakashi's relationship with the Triplets...well, it's complicated.), dimonyo-anghel, The Almighty Pyro, SunniKing (Welcome to Bloodless!), Born to Sleep (Yeah, there were some loose ends, and other ideas, I considered it, but I did want to finish in a timely fashion. Hana's political power is both a help and a hindrance.), NamiHello (Welcome to Bloodless! I've always felt that you wouldn't be thinking about saving the plot, so much as saving your loved one's lives in a SI situation. It's hard to be an outsider looking in when there are people that you bond with, and people aren't as rational as characters and plot.), bksniper1 (Thank you! Welcome to this story!), Guest Four, Odd Shadow (Well, Danzo has taken a different route. Strangely enough, he's slightly pleased with the end result even if it screwed with his original plans.), blookdrangonslayer, angrypixels (It's complicated, but they would retain a certain amount of noble status as does the rest of the Inuzuka.), ArturoLJ50, LoveStories00 (On occasion, my fingers do hurt, but I love writing, so I write a lot.), worldtravelingfly, Forgotten Lost Ancient, Roxygirl87, Heart (Tsume will appear more next chapter! And more reactions!), ninetytwocharsonetable, NightsBlackRose13 (In a fashion, yes. He knows that lying to her is pointless, but she doesn't ask. He was waiting for her to though.), xXMadCatXx (Yep. And chilling. But also hilarious.), Cooked Ghost (Personal hell broke loose. And it wasn't Danzo's fault.), SohieNewman, XTakaX27 (I don't have one actually. I'm not sure what I would put on it, but thank you for asking.), HoloObsession, Ludicc, fernandfeather, libraryrockerr, the yeah (I'm sorry you felt that way...), Lost-Tribe-Daughter, Guest Five, Uzumaki D Narut0, kamkong (Welcome to Bloodless!), Filthycommoner (I'm glad you liked it! And I am very fond of both Kakashi and Fugaku.), and Takinginspiration (This fic isn't heavy on Naruto, the character, I'm afraid.) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	66. Entanglements Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Well," The Sandaime comments after Danzo disappears. "Congratulations, Inuzuka-chan."

I feel my teeth grind together, but it's best to be polite at the moment. _I don't think this is anything to be congratulated for._ "Thank you, Hokage-sama." I murmur, and bow politely towards him.

He rises. "I feel that we have no more to discuss today." And sweeps from the room, the advisers trailing in his wake.

Inoichi-san whistles. "Well, seems like you're magnetic, Hana-chan." His comment only serves to remind me of his sister, of Kiho-baachan who is still...lost.

Of Sensei- _And what will Sensei think of this situation? What would he-_

 _I cannot let him know._ But that line of thought is dangerous and stupid. It was my unfortunate propensity to _not_ tell Sensei what's going on that led to our last fight. We haven't resolved it yet. I can't make the same mistake again. I will have to tell him.

 _But Sensei is...is not well._ I close my eyes, and breath out. _Sensei is strong enough to survive it._ I will tell him. As soon as I can go back to his house, I will tell him, but I will have to be smart about it.

Sensei dislikes both the Hokage and Danzo for his own reasons that I am not aware of, but I doubt he'd consider my new apprenticeship an honor.

I remember that Inoichi-san has said something to me. "I would much rather not be, Inoichi-san." I smile at him, my widest fake smile. "It would be hard to throw kunai were I actually magnetic."

Shikaku-san breaks into such hard chuckles that he has to set his forehead on the table. "She's got you there, Inoichi."

Chichi says nothing. He simply rises from his chair, and walks out of the room. His lack of reaction worries me, but there is nothing I can do at the current moment, instead, I offer Kaa-san a hand, and pull her from her chair. "We should go home." I say.

"We should." She responds, and stretches, cracking her neck slowly. "You'll never believe what happened this month."

I blink. "What happened?"

Kaa-san smiles, slow, smug, like Kuromaru when he's eaten the last dog treat in the house. "You'll never be able to guess." She ruffles my hair fondly. "Now tell me about how you became a princess."

"Kaa-san!" I groan. "You can't just bait me like this and then expect me to tell _you_ a story."

She laughs. "Maybe you shouldn't bait me first, Little Nose."

I sigh. Kaa-san's hardly going to give up the story now if I didn't fill her in. "Well, it all began when I got to the capital..."

* * *

"And that's how it happened." I finish. I told her about the backstabbing, the death of the Daimyo, the death of Consort Ine, how Asuma had been, she'd asked, and that I'd been named a princess at the end of it all. "Do you think that Yasino-nii murdered the Daimyo?" It's been bothering me all this time. I don't want to believe it, but it's also such a logical solution to all of his problems, that I have no qualms with thinking that it is probably true.

"Sounds like it." Kaa-san shrugs. We're in the compound now, in the neighborhood of home, and it is comforting in all the ways that I have missed this past month at the capital. "Frankly I don't blame him if he did." She's so...casual about it all.

"So it doesn't matter?" I ask, blinking, because really in the end, why would it matter?

"Why would it?" Kaa-san sets a hand on my shoulder and guides me off. "You gained something good from the experience didn't you?" And this is the first time that I realize that Kaa-san's really sort of mercenary, but the people at court mean little to her, since they aren't pack, and she doesn't care much for the not pack. For the first time, I am a little glad that I'll never truly be able to get on Kaa-san's bad side. "The pack is stronger now because the Daimyo cares for you, you can't say that's a bad thing."

"No." I agree. "That's not bad at all." And perhaps I'd spent too long a time at court, where everything bad except murder is allowed. The men and women at court didn't believe in murder, but they do believe in ruining lives and plots within plots. Sometimes, murder might be kinder.

Kaa-san laughs, happy and carefree. "The look on all of their faces." She outright giggles, whistling to the puppies out on a walk from the kennels. "Shin, make sure that you don't lose any." She calls out and waves to my tall beanpole thin cousin. "My favorite image of the night was seeing Hyuga Hiashi spit out his tea." She chortles with laughter, tears streaming.

"I got it, Tsume-baasama." He waves back.

She wipes her eyes with her fingers and schools her face back into passivity. And now, I guess I have to uphold my end of the bargain." Kaa-san pulls open the door, and raises a hand to cup her lips. "Kiba! Sasuke! Hana's back."

The only warning I get is the sound of two pairs of clattering feet. "NEECHAN!" Two small blurs of intense speed tackle me from the front. I do not go falling backwards, no, instead, I'm riveted on who else has appeared at the end of the hallway.

A small, blonde-haired girl with her hair done up messily with two butterfly pins. _Ino._

"Ha!" Kiba turns to Sasuke, a finger jabbing in his direction. "Told you Neechan would be back today!"

Sasuke buries his face in my middle. "Well, I got to hug Neechan first." He sniffs, an almost perfect copy of a disapproving middle aged woman, and it's all I can do to stop myself from cackling madly. "So there!"

"No you didn't." Kiba grouses from my other side. "We got here at exactly the same time, so there!"

I peel the both of them off of me. "Kiba-chan?" I ask, casting another glance at Ino who's still frozen at the end of the hallway. "Did you make a new friend?"

Kiba blinks for a moment. "Oh yeah!" He goes back and drags Ino over, as if he's a puppy presenting something that he's incredibly proud of. "This's No-chan!" He turns to Ino, who smiles back at him. "No-chan, this is Neechan!" He leans in and mock whispers. "Neechan's the best ever, don'tcha know?" And then he's turned back to me. "And No-chan's really the prettiest girl ever!" _Hmm. I suppose Ino is a pretty child. She's like something out of a picture book for princesses._

 _But I don't think that's what Kiba-chan means by prettiest girl. He knows nothing about conventional beauty after all._

I bend over so that Ino and I are eye level. Whatever my otouto means about prettiest girl can wait until later. "It's good to meet you again, Ino-chan." I wasn't aware that Inoichi-san let his daughter out of the flower shop without an adult, but it seems as though Kiba has worked his unintentional magic on yet another unsuspecting grown up. She's certainly real enough. And here, without an adult in sight.

"Nice to meet you!" Ino squeaks, and bows at me.

Sasuke pokes her shoulder. "You don't need t'be so formal with Neechan." He half mumbles. "Anyways, Ino-chan's a Yamanaka from the flower shop." He announces very gravely, as if this is all important. "And she's good at building turrets."

I nod. Building sand turrets for the castle is a serious thing after all. "Have they been giving you a hard time?" I ask Ino, because I'm not sure _how_ Kiba managed to make friends with the prim and proper Yamanaka Ino, whose closest friends are _Shikamaru and Chouji,_ not my otouto and Sasuke. But then again, I'm not sure that anything about these relationships are anything close to what I'd remembered they'd be.

Kiba and Sasuke had not been best childhood friends.

Ino shakes her head so fast I'm almost afraid she'll get whiplash. "No!"

Kiba seems to remember something. "'S late." He mutters, and takes Ino by the hand. "Suppose you need to go back now." The three of them disappear out the door.

Well, that's only mystery solved. I look back up at Kaa-san who's leaning against the doorway. "You're telling me that Kiba made a new friend?"

Kaa-san smiles, her white teeth shining in the soft lamp light. "I'm telling you that Yamanaka has let his daughter go to the dogs."

For a moment, we could probably both hear a pin drop on the other side of Konoha, so deep is the silence, and then the joke catches up to the both of us, and we burst out in mad cackles. _Gone to the dogs indeed._

* * *

That night, I sleep with the Triplets on the throw rug on the floor, my head pillowed against San's stomach, Ichi flopped over my middle, and Ni curled around my feet. We are a dog pile of the maddest sort.

"I don't like our new Shishou." I mutter aloud, because this is the heart of Inuzuka land, and there are fair few people capable of spying on us. Not here, at any rate.

Ichi huffs. "We can't do much about it." He sounds disgruntled, which is basically my mental state.

I pat him on the head. "You're right."

We can't do much about it. We're stuck visiting Danzo...for the first time, tomorrow. I take a deep breath. "How do you guys think I should act?" What would Danzo want me to act like? Would he expect a typical Inuzuka girl, or would he-

"Don't know." Ni scratches himself behind the ear. "But I don't think we should go."

I pat San. "What do you think?"

He wuffs. "I agree."

 _It makes sense. But how should I act? I don't have any examples-_

I do have an example. At the moment, I cannot move against Danzo, just as through all those long years, Yasino-nii couldn't move against Consort Ine. _Now how did Yasino-nii-_

He'd laughed, and smiled, and called her Ni-Haha-ue. He'd nettled Asahano to be sure, but he'd built his life around ways not to offend Consort Ine until he could turn the tables. All the way up to the day of her death, Consort Ine hadn't considered Yasino-nii dangerous. She'd considered his existence dangerous but only because he was crown prince. She'd found time to bully him relentlessly, to stage his assassination and not feel threatened when he did not die, she'd not found something dangerous innate to him. In her mind, it was his title that was dangerous, but she should not have feared his title, she should have feared the man.

I close my eyes, and think. _I will have to act like this is as much an honor as I can make it._

 _Yasino-nii will have to be my example now, if I want to get out of this in one piece. Cousin Gaku depends on me to not screw things up._

* * *

The next morning, I stand outside Elder Shimura's door, and breathe in once, before I knock. "Shishou?"

"Come in." His voice is deep, and it rumbles in a way that few other people's do. It rolls like subtle thunder, and shakes me to the core. I take another breath, and center myself again.

I step through the door, and bow exactly thirty degrees. "I hope your morning has been well so far." I murmur, and hold my bow for a count of five before straightening.

He's regarding me rather strangely before he opens his mouth to speak again. "A representative of another country has just been murdered within Konoha's borders." He says, as if remarking about the weather. It's just a really strange thing to say about the weather: oh, it's cloudy today, with a chance of murder. "They will declare war if you do not send them the ninja responsible for killing that representative." _Oh. It's a training puzzle._ "Yet, you cannot send them that ninja, because he is fundamentally important to one of your clans, and without him they will revolt." He pins me with a hard gaze. "What is your decision?"

He is describing the Hyuga Incident to me, in layman's terms. "This puzzle has been solved by history, Shishou." I murmur. "We sent Hyuga Hizashi to the chopping block instead because Kumo was unlikely to tell the difference."

"I'm not asking you to tell me history, girl." He sighs, and it sounds both angry and frustrated. _I suppose you know your recent history. You had a hand in planning it after all._ "I'm asking you, what your decision is."

I close my eyes. I breathe in. I breathe out. "That the representative was killed was unfortunate." I murmur. _What would Yasino-nii do in this situation?_ "Do we have spies in the other country, close to the leadership?" Yasino-nii's secondary skill, beyond his innate capability to hold his temper, and make people dismiss him, is information gathering. Do I have the same advantage here?

"We might. We might not." Elder Shimura taps his fingers on the table. "Tell me the choice you would make in both."

I come to stand before him. "If we have spies...We must figure out which way the political wind blows within the other country, locate the dissidents of the decision to go to war, and maximize their voices. The leader that does not listen to his advisers loses before he begins. Even if war were to occur, the majority will not support it, and thus, our war will be short as we have cut their morale before it even manifests." This training exercise is an interesting one. "If we do not..." Well, this is trickier. _If it is a war and I cannot ensure it will be short, thus costing the lives of many, or a trade, and thus the life of one..._

The most terrifying part of this thought experiment is that I can see where the Hokage and his Council were coming from. The lives of many over the lives of one. But I cannot accept that. "If they so easily declare war on us, without regards to the lives of their own," I murmur at last. "Then war must be inevitable, and thus trading them one man will only patch the leakage without absolving the need for more patches. It is better not to trade and thus, amass for war."

"Your roads lead to war either way." I wince. _They do, don't they?_ He gestures to the chair. "Sit down, girl." He looks at me, over his steepled hands, and smiles, a wide, slow smile. "But at least you think." His fingers tap against each other when he speaks again. "In our historical situation, war did not occur."

"It is a recent history, Shishou." I counter. "It has only been two years, Kumo may yet find another excuse for war."

"Then," he says. "The question becomes: is war now or war later the better alternative?"

"The average person will always choose war later." I murmur. "But I don't believe that is what you want me to say."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "And what do I want you to say?" _You know that very well. But I suppose you want me to say that._

"You want me to say that it is better to sacrifice the life of one man to save the lives of many men." There is a thought that something, something about sacrifice and loss that I am supposed to remember about Shimura Danzo, but I cannot for the life of me, think of what it might be. "But I cannot accept that."

"Do you hold all lives equal?" His question is strange enough.

"Yes." It is the gut response, but it is not the true answer. "No." I say at last. "And all men wish to say that they think all lives are equal, but that is false." He raises an eyebrow, and I continue. "Most men value their lives over their opponent on the battlefield." I murmur. "It can only be assumed then, that most men have no problem considering all lives fundamentally unequal, no matter what lip service they may pay. Thus, I must conclude that the life of that one man, depending on who he is, weighs more to someone than all the deaths of any war."

"And what do you find most precious?"

This is an easy question to answer, but not to this man. Not to this man. I could say Kiba without a thought to any other man, but this one? I haven't forgotten myself enough despite how much I've relaxed in his presence.

"As any Inuzuka would," I reply. "I find most precious, my family."

The look in his eye is amused. "Such deflection." He murmurs. "So much li-" And his mouth clicks shut, a frown pressing against his lips.

 _So much like what?_ I think. _What have you just compared me to, and is it good or bad?_

"Your team of five is ambushed by a group of twenty." He says, at last. "We will say that it is you, your team, the Uchiha Heir, and your sensei. One of you must be a decoy, otherwise no one survives."

"Are you asking me to choose the decoy, Shishou?" He hasn't really asked a question. He's just outlined a hypothetical scenario and sat there, waiting for me to respond.

He nods. "Tell me who is the decoy."

I consider it. "Sensei is important to crypt." I murmur. "So I cannot choose Sensei, or Konoha's Intel Department will suffer, because as of yet, Sensei has no successor." That leaves us. "Ita-kun is the Uchiha Heir." _I do not want to see anyone die._ I frown. "And Toku and Mu-kun are my friends." And I've already died once. "The decoy would be me."

"Your logic broke down halfway through." Elder Shimura looks more amused than anything when I look up. "You justify not asking your Sensei and the Uchiha Heir for their functions within the village, and you justify the others because they are your friends."

"The reasoning is valid either way." I reply. "From my perspective, I must be sacrificed because I do not want to bury anyone else that you've outlined in your scenario. If one of us must die, my heart will tell me that it is me."

"But think of the pain." His voice is lazy. "Think of how they will grieve for you. Think of every person that loves you. Think of how selfish you are to sacrifice yourself for the sake of not having to grieve."

"And yet," I respond. "If there is no decoy, all of us will die, and the pain will be that much greater." It is only then that I realize that our word games have led us back to the end result that he wants.

"So you agree then." He turns an amused eye in my direction. "You will value a sacrifice of one over the sacrifice of many. One life is worth less than the lives of more lives."

And now the question becomes: if I do not agree with sacrificing Hyuga Hizashi, how do I reconcile it with my decision to sacrifice myself? _Doesn't he have other things to do, besides sitting around and playing word games with a ten year old?_

But I can't really ask him to do that, because the longer he spends playing mind games with me, is less time he has to do something else that is probably much more damaging.

"Maybe." I allow him that. Maybe I do think it. "But these are people that I care for." I blink up at him. "That's different from hypothetical people."

"No one you meet will be hypothetical." He sounds rather bored. "Do you consider yourself hypothetical to me, Inuzuka-kun?"

He's stopped calling me girl. "No." I respond. "You offered to apprentice me, and I don't think you apprentice hypothetical little girls." I frown at him. "But I am not as important to you as Sensei is important to me, or my team is important to me."

"Don't be so sure." He stands, and moves over to his bookshelf. He pulls two scrolls off of it, and sets them on the table between us. "Your relationships at the moment are not set in stone, and even stone may be broken." That sounds...incredibly pessimistic. He slides both of the scrolls towards me. "I expect you to read these two for next week."

I take them, but there's a question that I really should ask. "Why am I your apprentice, Shishou?" I want to know what I am apprenticed for, but I doubt he'd really tell me. My stomach rumbles. Despite my best intentions, I did not have time for my morning run and a full breakfast before his ridiculous six thirty deadline.

He stares at me for a long moment, as if food is not a thought that ever crosses his mind. "I haven't decided yet." _Well, aren't you...helpful, and completely untruthful._ "I'll tell you when you are capable of telling me why you are my apprentice." He waves a hand at me. "It's nearly noon. Go eat lunch."

It's nearly two hours from noon. He clearly wants to get rid of me, and I have no idea why, but I'll take it. "Thank you for your time, Shishou." I bow politely at him, and rise easily to leave the room. If he wants me gone before our time is supposed to be up, I will gladly leave.

* * *

"Hana-chan?" I blink. There's a hand waving about in front of my face. I'm sitting in Kiba's favorite yakitori place, slowly chewing my late breakfast. Yakitori isn't really a breakfast food, but I can't be bothered. "Hana-chan!"

"Oh." I look up. "Sorry, Izumi-chan. I was spaced out for a moment there."

She smiles at me, and sits down at my booth. "We just got back from a C-rank." She says, something like stars lighting in her eyes. "And everything was rushed and strange, and Sensei had to beat up some of the bandits, but we're getting there."

Her good natured chatter is...so strange. "Hmmm." I say, and chew on another piece of meat. _That's nothing like what I did this morning. This morning, I had a philosophical discussion with the Devil Himself._

"I guess you aren't so hyped up about it." Izumi sighs. "I mean, you've probably run loads of C-rank missions by the time you were five months into being a genin."

I frown. "No, actually...We ran our first C-rank half a year after we became genin." I think back to the early days of team training. "Sensei was so not to be bothered that he had us do D-ranks once a week and practice the Academy Three and spar with each other with random tracking exercises interspersed the rest of the time."

"Really?" Her eyes are round and she leans in. "I didn't know that at all." She sighs. "I just want to be good, you know?" I can empathize with the feeling. I want to be good too, good enough to protect my family. It's just become harder to tell what good enough is, because Danzo had seemed logical and even reasonable this morning. "But it feels like everyone is leaving me behind."

"You were always good." I answer her. It's true. I'd only ever had respect for her taijutsu skills during the Academy.

"I was always stupid, you mean." She twists her hands around on the table. "Back in the Academy, I thought that I won because I was better at taijustu than you, but it turns out that you just didn't want to hit hard enough." She sighs, blowing her bangs out of her face. "But you weren't mean or anything about it, I was just stupid."

And I had never thought about how my sudden reversal had seemed to her. "That's not true." It clearly had unintended consequences. _All decisions I make affect other people._ "How good I am doesn't make you less good. We're not competing against each other. We're supposed to be comrades."

"I guess so." She looks pensive. "I had something else I wanted to ask you about though. I got sidetracked." She nods to herself decisively. "What's it like to get a new Chichi?"

I blink at her. _What? Oh-_ "What happened?"

"Inabi-san wants to marry Kaa-san." She responds. "We've been living with him since five years ago, but Kaa-san's only recently seriously considering marrying him."

I didn't even know that her Tou-san had _died._ This conversation just keeps making me feel worse. "I'm not sure it's the same." I offer. "Kaa-san isn't marrying Chichi, and never will."

"I know." Her reply is as confident as mine about the matter. "Fugaku-san would never consider anyone other than Mikoto-san." She flips her hair over her shoulder. "But that's not it, you know. What do you feel about it? How do you cope with r-replacing-"

I set my hand over hers across the table, and smile wanely. This is one question that I can answer. "You don't replace." I have not replaced Inuzuka Kaito with Uchiha Fugaku, no matter how much I love Chichi, no matter how much I love Tou-san, the two are not interchangeable. "You find room in your heart for another person, and you love them with that. You don't dig up the parts of your heart that you've buried and give it to someone else now. That's not fair to either of those people, or you."

"When you put it like that." She sighs. "Well, yeah. I sound a little silly now." She rises to go. "Thanks, Hana-chan." But she doesn't go, not yet. Instead, she takes my hand. "Can we be friends? I know we don't really see each other often, but, but I think we should be friends anyway."

I look at her, at her and her hopeful face, at her our joined hands, at this girl who clearly is so lonely that she finds a girl she doesn't even know that well from her Academy days to talk to about her family situation. "Sure." I smile. "I can always find room for one more person."

She laughs. "So generous, Hana-chan." But she looks more buoyant than the fake aura she'd been projecting earlier on in our conversation. "I'll be a good friend, I promise. I'll be a better friend than a sparring partner."

"I'll hold you to it." And sitting there, that morning, in Kiba's favorite Yakitori place, I make another friend.

* * *

I arrive at the station at noon, holding a cup of coffee in each hand, the one in my left hand is for Chichi. My own, untouched coffee is in my right hand. I blame Chichi for my unfortunate coffee addiction. I just happen to like mine with more sugar than is natural.

"Hana-chan." Kagen-san hisses at me from across the lobby. "Bad news."

I blink. "Is there something wrong?"

He begins. "Well, Taicho is-"

"What am I?" Chichi asks from behind me. "Kagen, do tell." There's a feeling of hoarfrost in his voice that everything makes around us freeze and die.

Kagen-san swallows, hard. "Well, you are decidedly on a warpath today." He straightens his shoulders. "You can't deny that it's true, Taicho."

Chichi does not respond, he simply takes me by the shoulder, the coffee from my right hand, and pushes me off, down the hall to his office.

"Chichi?" I just want my coffee back, but it's too late.

He takes a sip, and his expression isn't even minute. I still can't understand him though, because now that he's making facial expressions...I have no idea how to read them. "What is this?" He asks, staring at the cup like it is an entirely new species of coffee that he has never seen before. He's probably never seen it before. He drinks his coffee black. Without sugar. Without cream.

I would know. I make his coffee often enough.

I blink at him. "It's my coffee."

He stares at me for a long moment, as if I have somehow grown another eye or something. "What type is it?" _Are you alright? Chichi, has the sugar broken you?_

"It's a white chocolate mocha." I'm not sure how to react to all this, because he doesn't look angry, he looks _confused,_ and that is stranger than if he'd been angry or irritated.

He knocks it back easily. "Find this one next time." He continues to pull me down the hall. "It's nice." _What? Oh. Wait. He's related to Itachi, Chipmunk Boy, whenever Itachi sees a sweet thing he-_

 _But I thought he got that from Mikoto-san. Not Chichi._

"Chichi?" I ask. He turns around to look at me with no facial expression whatsoever. I'm still holding his black coffee. "I thought you didn't like sweet things..." I've never seen him eat anything remotely resembling a dessert, yet...there's far too much sugar in a white chocolate mocha for it to be even really dessert.

"Why?" He asks. His lack of facial expression doesn't help me.

"Because you never eat anything sweet?" It sounds silly when I say this, because maybe he ate desserts at home? But I didn't know that he was remotely fond of _food._ He forgot his bento at home, half the days we were at the station anyway. He clearly didn't attach much importance to it. "You never even have basic dessert in your bento."

He pulls me into his office, and shuts the door behind us. We are quite alone.

He looks vaguely guilty. "Mikoto." He begins, and he looks annoyed? Irritated? Upset ? Disappointed? Offended? I don't know what it is, or even if it is one of those emotions at all. "Thinks I will gain _weight._ "

Clearly, this is a confession of sorts. Chichi looks like a disgruntled schoolboy.

I slap a hand over my face to stifle my giggles. _Chichi doesn't eat desserts because Mikoto-san thinks he'll gain weight? How many desserts does one have to eat to gain weight to the point that Mikoto-san would be concerned?_

And suddenly Itachi, Chipmunk Boy, is replaced by the idea of chibi!Chichi, who is actually a round ball, rolling casually down the street. _And there goes...the Military Police Chief, fearsome stone faced leader of the Uchiha...a round and dumpy-_

I lose my battle with the giggles. The thought is irreverent. So irreverent.

 _Chichi? Fat?_

 _But_ -I gasp. "How many sweets would that take?"

Chichi raises an eyebrow about a millimeter. "Take for?"

"B-becoming..." And I can't help it. I set my forehead down on a stack of paperwork and _howl_ with laughter. "H-how many sweets would it t-take to m-make a human a _ball?_ "

He flicks the top of my head with a finger, and when I raise my head to prop my chin on the paperwork instead, he looks so _offended_ that it almost sets me off again. "I'm sorry." I gasp weakly. "It's just-so..."

He sighs. "You will not tell Mikoto."

"I won't tell Mikoto-san that you broke the no sugar rule?" But if she was so concerned...I examine Chichi as if he would suddenly turn into a balloon right in front of me.

"You will not tell Mikoto." The air's grown cold again, and it is only now that I remember his reaction yesterday. It is only now that I remember that he'd been on a warpath about something earlier this morning. His original mood hadn't been good to begin with.

"I won't tell Mikoto-san." I promise him.

We turn to more serious affairs.

"Shimura Danzo." Chichi says as he picks up another sheet of paperwork. "Is not a trustworthy man." And that's just so- _blunt._ Anyone who saw Chichi's actions in the Council Chamber would know that he doesn't play politics, but this is straightforward even for him.

"I am sure that he will lose interest in me soon." He'd let me go two hours earlier than our agreed time today. And I still don't know what he wants me _for._ "Elder Shimura is just interested because I seem atypical." But I had given him a very typical Inuzuka response this morning. I'm sure that, well, actually I'm not sure that he's going to lose interest in me any time soon, but Chichi doesn't need to know that. His mood is already bad enough.

"You became a princess." It seems that Chichi is willing to let it go for now. "Why?"

I blink. _Why did Yasino-nii want to name me a princess?_ "Because...the new Daimyo wanted to name a princess?"

It is clear that this is not the right answer. Chichi visibly frowns. "Why did he want to?" I'm not understanding him properly again. It's only been a month at the capital, in Kakunodate, but I'm not capable of reading the nuance in his facial features. I didn't pick up on the cues, and now I'm forcing him to speak about this out loud.

I close my eyes. _Why did he want to name me? Why did I receive the honor, and not someone else?_ "Because I saved his life?" I offer. "I made a good effort to protect him?" But that shouldn't be it either. Other people had helped to safeguard his life. Other people had given him the political backing to survive court, other people had been his friends for far longer-"I saw him." At last, I understand. "He could tell me the truth." I don't know that Yasino-nii ever told anyone about how he really felt about his mother. I doubt anyone else had seen him as I had that afternoon as he stood in the market square surrounded by children giving him the strangest of little things. I know that no one had ever diagnosed his illness properly.

"I see." Chichi's lips are tight.

I have my own question to ask him. "Why?" _Why are you-_ His eyebrow is rising. He doesn't understand. "Why does this bother you?" I ask. He'd spared me a sentence of warning about Shimura Danzo, but he'd spent quite a bit about the affair regarding Yasino-nii.

"Nobles." He says at last. "Are less trustworthy than Shimura Danzo."

So it is because I have suddenly gained noble status then. I doubt Chichi finds me untrustworthy, but I suppose he is concerned about my ties to the wide and wheeling court. They probably are an untrustworthy lot.

"I will not let them affect the people I want to help prosper." I look him in the eye. "Yasino-nii believes that Yoshiwara can change. He wants to see it happen." And I can't really tell Chichi that Yasino-nii is trustworthy, when he isn't really. No man that murders his own father is completely trustworthy, but Yasino-nii isn't _bad._

He merely hns as a response to this. "Inabi is waiting for you." He murmurs, with a gesture to the door.

I've been dismissed, and for the first time in three months, I feel a chill in Chichi's presence, that must be directed at me.

I do not know what the dismissal means.

But I rise and go. "Have a good afternoon, Chichi."

* * *

 **A.N.** Hana returns home, and finds that she is not magnetic, her brother's made a new friend, Danzo is _weird,_ makes a new friend herself, and discovers that her relationship with her Chichi has hit another point. That's a lot for one chapter.

Thank you so much to Dreamy-Girl2016 (Well, Danzo's made his official debut as Shishou...), LittleMissSugarLess (I regret nothing.), Annedq, mikurocks1234, ManawaSasa, WhiteFang001 (But he's acting like a normal Shishou...just with sadism on the side.), Catsieee (I'm sorry you think it's for extra drama. I don't think Danzo is infallible, and while he causes a lot of the negative actions in this story, he's not exactly the Big Bad either. Hana has been apprenticed to Danzo in a sense because it is inevitable, she can say she refuses, but that causes political repercussions as well, and she doesn't want those.), fluffpenguin (Perhaps she was. It's hard to say right now. There's nothing particularly romantic about her relationship with Kakashi at the moment.), chibi-no-baka (Well, Kiba hasn't found out yet.), EverBear01, Yuki Suou (You do. It's kind of cool.), SnowCatt (Welcome to Bloodless! And well, hopefully the Danzo thing becomes clearer.), HoloObssession, Sam (I actually do have a Danzo POV planned, but it's for the far future when a lot more is revealed...), Grimmjow-Girl (Yes. Kakashi and puppies are a must, though the Triplets are rather big by now.), Azurebubble (It's the writer's job to make conflict...but yeah, Danzo is complicated and many layered.), AnimeFreak71777, RosieDunne, Zeru'Xil (Only Danzo knows.), bookdragonslayer, angrypixels, libraryrockerr (Yeah, Sensei can never win, it seems.), Falling Right Side-Up (I live to make Fugaku both likeable but similar to canon. And welcome to Bloodless!), reader229 (Naruto...will be reappearing soonish. Probably.), Hisa (Yeah, Kiho-baachan and Sensei have a long way to go.), Felius (You might be onto something...), Cooked Ghost (There's a Shisui chapter planned...but Toku and Muta, I will have to think about.), DuxTell (Yeah. Danzo is a consummate slytherin.), 3 Martian Rovers (Oh, the workload is going to hit her. Just not this chapter specifically.), Guest One (I'm a little confused, but yes, Yasino did tie her to court.), BeiBeiL, Born To Sleep (Yes. Kiho's miscarriage will not be suddenly vanishing. And yes, Danzo has some depth to him. I've decided that he isn't just faceless evil after all.), Axel Fones (Yep. He wins, or he wins.), Forgotten Lost Ancient, dahg, Rinnala Llethan(Welcome to Bloodless! And thank you, I really liked writing about the court. I attempt to write more Shisui, and he evades me every time. He's the opposite of Kakashi, who just likes to appear out of nowhere.), Permission (About which part?), silverharafox (I always think of Boudica by Karaliene when writing about Hana, but Fighter does fit as well.), syphiralae (Welcome to Bloodless! And yes, Danzo is more rational, and less...insane. If we can call it that.), QuietGiant (Oh no! Don't regret things!), and griffinheart67 (Welcome to Bloodless! And yes, I do laugh when imagining Hyuga Hiashi spitting tea across the table at Uchiha Fugaku.) for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	67. Entanglements Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I'd not been assigned to patrol since my disastrously bad decisions on my first day of work over three months ago. Nevertheless, Inabi-san is waiting for me in the hallway when I step out of Chichi's office.

I can't shake the idea that I must have offended Chichi somehow, because it feels like- _No. Don't think about that._

"Good afternoon!" I do my best to smile at Inabi-san. He doesn't deserve a partner who's overthinking her relationship with her adoptive father. He really didn't deserve it.

I'm still thinking about Chichi when we stroll down the street.

"I don't know which planet you're from." Inabi-san mutters under his breath. "But this has not been a good month, and it hasn't been a good day."

I blink at him. "What?" Yes, the station did take on Chichi's attitude most of the time, as he is the Captain, but...surely it isn't telepathic is it? They couldn't possibly just _know_ that Chichi is upset.

"Taicho's been unfortunately bad tempered the entire month that you were gone." Inabi-san confesses, under his breath because we are at work, and ought not complain about our superiors, that and it would be just like Chichi to be hooked up to the radio. "And we thought it would get better when you got back, but no dice."

I blink again, because that is just..."But I don't know that his mood has anything to do with me?" I offer. There are plenty of other things that he could be upset about. I'm not the only thing in his life...

Inabi-san scoffs. "You're so typical." We're in a more upscale neighborhood now, and moving through the streets rather briskly. "Inuzukas never know how much they affect other people do they?"

I stop in the middle of the street. "What?"

"Clearly," Inabi-san sets a hand on his hip. "You are the reason he has been in such a bad mood. You don't see anyone else going away and then coming back again, do you?"

"But-but-" That's _preposterous._ Something in the back of my head still tells me that Chichi is...well, okay. The image that remains of Uchiha Fugaku is clearly not who he really is. _I've affected his actions? I really have?_

"Oh this is dumb." Inabi-san throws up his hands. "You worried him, you goose. Now stop thinking that he hates you, he clearly couldn't hate you even if you strangled cats for fun in a back alley."

My eyebrow rises at this. "Inabi-san, I think he could forgive many things, but strangling cats might be pushing it." Animal cruelty is not a part of my mental state, and I would much rather not devolve into a cat strangler. I shudder at the thought. _Who would ever be so awful and cruel as that?_

But then I'm pulled back into the actual world, and something about the situation I'm in reminds me about how I felt walking down the street with Tou-san. There are women whispering behind their hands. "How uppity do they think they are?" "Oh, hush Kimiko, keep your head down." "Those eyes-ugh...see into your soul."

Inabi-san stares straight ahead, and keeps on going.

Maybe he doesn't hear them, but clearly they are talking about him, and he knows it.

But I can hear them, and I don't like what they're saying. "Is there-"

Inabi-san slaps a hand over my mouth, takes me by the shoulder, and drags me off. "Don't do that." He hisses at me. "It's absolutely no good."

I pry his hand off of my mouth, and stand, glaring at him. _Why would he stop me from saying something to those awful ignorant-_ "But they were-"

"You think I don't know what they say?" He tilts his head, as if trying to figure out if I really belonged to the same planet as he did. "Inuzuka-chan, I know exactly what they think about the Military Police Force."

"Then why wouldn't you let me tell them that they were wrong?" There are tears building at the corners of my eyes, angry frustrated tears. _If he knows, then why won't he stand up for himself? Why wouldn't he let me stand up for him? What's wrong with trying to get the situation to end?_

"Inuzuka-chan." He says. "Let it go. It doesn't hurt anyone." _It clearly hurts you. You don't like their shallow disregard of your feelings._ "Not everyone loves a police officer." His eyes are shadowed. "Not even some who follow the law."

So yelling at them would make it all worse. I really do have to learn to keep my mouth shut. "Why?" I ask him.

He shrugs, and we continue down the street. "We make it hard for those who break the law. Sometimes we make things hard for people who aren't breaking the law. Temporary happiness is a bigger motivator than permanent safety." He sets a hand on my shoulder, and smiles at a passing group of girls, who giggle and wave back at us. "And not everyone hates us, so it's fine."

It's not fine, not really, given how much everyone at the station worked. Besides, they're _people_ , they don't deserve to be hurt and hated just because- _Tou-san._ I think, despairingly. _How did you live with nineteen years of this?_

* * *

"And what am I to do when people that do not deserve to be hated are?" I ask Elder Shimura, on the second morning that I am supposed to spend with him as I step through his door. I do not tell him that this has to do with the Military Police.

He steeples his fingers over his papers, and frowns. "Why would it matter to you? Are they dead or dying because of it?"

"No." I shouldn't expect him to have any answer to this. Elder Shimura, according to all that is holy, just simply didn't _care_ about whether or not people are hated. "But Tou-san didn't die because he was hated either." He'd died in a work related accident. "And he is still dead."

"Hmm." Shishou turns to his bookshelf. "Inuzuka Kaito is a bad example." He looks up at the ceiling. "Fu, tell me what you think of the matter."

"This one couldn't say, Danzo-sama." A young man with orange hair steps through the window. "There are too many variables at play." He bows to me once, politely. "This one is called Fu, Hana-hime."

I blink at him. "It's just Hana, Fu-san." He's about to protest, but Elder Shimura looks at him for a long moment, and he shuts his mouth with a polite click.

Elder Shimura turns back to me. "There are many tasks that I must accomplish. I have asked Fu to oversee your education today."

And now I am certain that Fu is also a member of ROOT. I am also certain it must be something I've said for him to just drop me like this. Something about our conversation discomfited him, but for the life of me, I can't tell what it is, and I don't have any time to figure out what it might be.

"Yes, of course, Shishou." I say, because I am certain that he does not mean to kill me, and the longer I am not irritating, the larger chance I have of living through this ordeal.

With a satisfied nod, Elder Shimura pushes his bookcase, and steps through it into a small room beyond.

Only Fu and I remain in his office. I wonder where the room beyond his bookcase led.

I am aware enough to realize that I am nowhere skilled enough to check. _I don't think he would show me the hidden entrance of his lair into ROOT, or keep in such an obvious place._

 _It's probably another test of some sort._ The curiosity burns, but I refuse to take the bait, now or ever.

"Hana-hime?" He asks, still standing before me without so much as moving a muscle. "Danzo-sama has said that he wishes for me to teach you history?" Elder Shimura knows that I am well versed in history already.

I have no idea why he wants one of his ROOT agents to teach me history.

My stomach growls. "Can we talk about history and eat at the same time?" I ask him.

He blinks. "We are perfectly capable of doing both at once."

I frown at him. "We also should not care to have such perfect grammar."

He blinks once more, and I remember that ROOT agents aren't supposed to know anything about humor. It is disconcerting nonetheless. "That was supposed to be a joke, Fu-san."

"Oh."

* * *

"So." I say, when we sit down in a tempura place down the street. I am not about to bring a ROOT agent to Mufu-an or Kiba's favorite yakitori place. Both restaurants hold too many positive memories to be tainted this way. "What sort of history does Shishou wish for you to teach me?"

"Have you learned anything about Amegakure, Hana-hime?" He asks. I've ordered shrimp tempura, but he hasn't ordered anything.

For a moment, I wonder if Elder Shimura has infected every single one of his agents with his inability to feel hungry, but that thought is quickly shoved to the side.

"The village hidden in the rain." I tilt my head back, and think about it. "It rains there, permanently, day in and day out. And it was a battleground for the Second Shinobi War." There's something that happened in Amegakure, something, but that's in the future. I have no idea what is going on right now. "It is led by..." I frown, and try to remember. "Hanzo?"

"Yes." He responds, and sits there, still as a statue as I eat. "Hanzo the Salamander." Hanzo the Salamander, known to be so strong that even the Legendary Sannin couldn't defeat him, and instead, were christened 'Sannin' by him as a mercy.

Fu doesn't say anything else, and it is very awkward to just sit here and wait for him to...say something.

I push some of my tempura over to him. "Aren't you hungry?"

He blinks at me. "This one is fine, Hana-hime."

I frown at him. "You shouldn't call me Hana-hime." I don't know if this is something that Elder Shimura has put him up to, as a way to play with me, since I am _technically_ 'Hana-hime' or if it something that he is doing...because he has no idea how to conceive of another possibility.

"That is impossible, Hana-hime."

I resist the urge to bang my head against the table. _Okay. So first I have Kasuga who insistently calls me 'Taicho' and now I have someone who insistently calls me 'Hana-hime'? Why?_

"So." I say at last, because it doesn't look like he is about to say anything. "Hanzo the Salamander is the leader of Amegakure."

He nods. "Jiraiya-sama has connections within Amegakure, and Danzo-sama has a few as well." He stops again.

I get the feeling that this conversation will be like pulling teeth.

"Fu-san?" I ask him. "What exactly are you supposed to be doing?"

He blinks. "This one is supposed to be-" And then he chokes slightly. "This one is talking to you about Amegakure." He says after he stops choking, as if nothing had happened at all.

Well, clearly, he isn't supposed to be teaching me history. That just begged the question, what _is_ he supposed to be doing?

Alas, I do not find out.

* * *

That afternoon, I go to find Sensei before I'm needed down at the station. I find him on the couch again, but this time, Kiho-baachan is with him, and the sunshine in the house is just bizarre. They preferred to keep the blinds closed most of the time, so the room has always seemed dim in my memories, but right now, the bright summer sunshine streams in from every window, and Kiho-baachan is draped over Sensei as if he is a particularly interesting and comfortable throw rug.

His hand is tangled in her long hair, and they are talking about something, when I pause in the doorway, but it's too soft for me to hear, and I have little desire to eavesdrop.

They look peaceful. Sensei's eyes are closed, and Kiho-baachan's hands are playing with the buttons on his shirt.

And faced with this scene, it's even harder to tell Sensei about everything that has happened to me.

"Hana-chan." He raises a hand, lazily, beckoning me closer, and doesn't open his eyes. "Do you have something you need to tell me?" _He knows then._

 _I should have thought that he'd know by now. Sensei's information network is impeccable._

"Ensui." Kiho-bachchan's voice has taken on a bit of a warning tone. Her hand has stopped moving. "Don't be mean to Hana-chan."

I take a deep breath, and step forward until I'm sitting on the floor right next to Sensei's hand. His fingers trail down the side of my face, absently, as if trying to figure out how to be human, how to be hands.

"I came here to tell you about it." I offer. I don't want him to think that I'm keeping things from him. I don't want him to think that I think less of him now.

He sighs, but doesn't open his eyes. "And you didn't tell me last time because?"

I'd been here, the night I came back from Kakunodate. "You were drunk last time, Sensei." I tell him. I can still remember all the shattered cups, the empty bottles, can still smell the alcohol saturating the room. "And you wouldn't have taken it well."

He laughs, bitter, broken, and forty shades of shattered all at once. "So it comes back to that, doesn't it."

But it doesn't, and I am tired. "No, Sensei." I reply, and he opens his eyes for the first time, in all of this. "It doesn't mean what you take it to."

"Then what does it mean?" He asks me, and he seems as though he's aged forty years in a night. "If I am unable to protect you, what does it mean, besides weakness?"

"It means that children have to grow up, sometime." I take his hand. "And Shishou isn't so bad."

" _Shishou?"_ Sensei hisses, and suddenly he is sitting upright, both hands grasping my shoulders so hard I feel my bones creak. His eyes are searching my face, something like horror, and something else like angry violence sitting in their depths. "Who is your Shishou, Hana." It is not a question.

 _Oh._ I think, rather belatedly. _He didn't know about that._ "Um. Elder Shimura?" I offer.

His face darkens, even as his shadow peels off of the floor.

Behind us, the bookshelf smashes to the ground, and Kiho-baachan rises.

* * *

"Stop it, Ensui." Kiho-baachan drags Sensei into the kitchen and sits him down, hard, on one of the chairs. "You can sit in time out until you come back to your senses alright?"

Sensei's reaction...has left the tea table overturned and several cups shattered against the wall. It's not as bad as I'd expected, but Kiho-baachan has stopped him before it got really out of hand.

She hugs me, tightly, but briefly, and smiles lopsidedly. " Forgive him. It's not you he's angry at." She kisses my forehead lightly. "Now go talk to each other like grownups." Then she disappears to fix the living room, and Sensei and I are left alone on opposite sides of the kitchen table.

He winces as I sit down. "That was unkind of me." His eyes skitter over my shoulders, and I know that he's considering the possibility that he's bruised me.

"You were worried." I shouldn't have come, but the longer I waited, the worse it would get. And Sensei's chakra might be fine now, he'd no problem moving his shadow and I hadn't seen it behave independently anymore, but...mentally, Sensei is a mess right now.

"I-" He sighs. "Be nice to Elder Shimura." He says at last. "And it will be best if you do not come back to the house."

I feel the bottom drop out of my stomach. "What?" _Sensei doesn't-Sensei-_ Have I really done something so unforgivable this time? Have I used up his goodwill?

"It's not because of anything you did." He pins me with a dark expression, lips curled up sardonically in a smile. Even now, Sensei reads me easily, lovingly and speaks to my fears. "You're in more danger if you come back."

I rise to my feet, and stumble around the table to sit at his feet. "Why?"

He cards a hand through my hair. "You remember we talked about enemies, Sprout?" I nod, but I can't say anything. _Sensei? Sensei? Why?_ "Elder Shimura," He says, heavily. "Is my enemy, and continuing to spend time with me is unsafe."

"No." I sob, my head on his lap. "I won't go away." My arms are wrapped around his legs. "I won't go away." How could I ever give up Sensei? Why am I being asked to give up Sensei to begin with?

"Sprout." He disentangles my arms from his legs, and kneels down so that we are eye level. "I'm not asking you to go away." He pulls me close, and I can hear the breakage in his voice. "I'm asking you to be _safe_." _And you are not safe here anymore. I cannot protect you properly anymore._ I hear it, but I don't want to believe it.

The only thing I can imagine is that perhaps Sensei expects to die soon, and he doesn't want me to see it, but that's false, that's wrong and I have no idea why he'd think that way.

"No." I pull myself together, piece by piece. "Elder Shimura expects me to love you. I won't simply stop." And now he makes me angry. Yes, maybe it's dangerous, maybe he doesn't want me to get hurt by whatever's going to happen to him, about everything that's happening, but leaving Sensei behind would hurt more than anything.

And that he doesn't know that-I do not want to think about what that means. "But Sensei." I say at last. "I didn't expect you to do something like this because you're afraid."

He frowns, a storm in his eyes. "I am not _afraid._ " He runs a hand through his hair, and looks like he's about to cry. "I've never met someone so pig headed-" His voice breaks, and he buries his face in his hands. "And I can't keep even one Kami damned promise."

"Sensei?" They'd looked idyllic earlier on the couch, but it's really clear at the moment that everything breaks, and Sensei's not _okay._

"I have failed everyone I've ever cared for." He takes a shaky breath. "And I won't be failing you as well."

"No." I agree, although I don't know what he means by failing everything. Kiho-baachan might be the miscarriage and the aftermath, Itachi might be the lack of apprenticeship duties at the moment, Kaa-san I have no idea she has never said anything about a failure on Sensei's part, Tou-san is dead, and thus not failed, Toku and Muta...perhaps they lack a Sensei, but all of these are tenuous connections at best.

I don't know what he means. I attribute his problems to his currently terrible mental state.

I just don't know how to help him.

* * *

I slouch my way into the station, half an hour later, still not completely sure that Kiho-baachan and Sensei would ever be the same again. We'd agreed that maybe it would be better not to appear at Sensei's house for a bit, though we'd meet biweekly at Mufu-an with the rest of the team. The light doesn't seem to help.

And Sensei, lazy, arrogant, proud and infallible Sensei seems worse than our return trip from Iwa.

At least after Iwa he still acted like Sensei. I jab my pen down absently, and try to find something else to distract myself with. _This case file is interesting..._ I muse. _It has a blood splatter on the bottom corner. That's unsanita-_

"Hana?"

I look back up at Chichi. "Yes, Chichi?" I ask.

There's a slight downturn on his lips, something of unhappiness in his eyes. "You are distracted." He stops my hand from reaching for the next pile of paper.

"I'm sorry." I don't know how to explain without babbling. "Sensei's not been...well lately." It's the understatement of the century. _Sensei's gone mad. Or thereabouts._

"Come." He rises, and pulls me along with him. We head out the station, and down the street.

I'm too distracted to know where we are going until Chichi pulls me into Ita-kun's favorite sweet shop, and gently pushes me into a seat. _I suppose he isn't really that angry with me after all._ He glances at the menu, and calmly points to his order. "Four of these. Three of these." He considers it. "Seven of these." He slides the menu back at the shocked girl. "Quickly."

He sits down next to me.

"Chichi?" I ask him. "What are we doing?"

"We." He says, and it seems as if it takes an internal struggle for him to continue. "Are going to sit here, eat cheap dango, and you can cry."

I blink. _What._ It's a strange phrase, and I feel as though he must have picked it up from somewhere else, sometime else, I just don't get the joke.

He sighs. "You are unhappy. Mikoto has said."

I don't think that Mikoto-san has said that _I_ am unhappy, but I suppose she must have confessed where she went to Chichi two days ago, which is to say, Chichi has some idea of what's going on in Sensei's house right now. And now he is clearly trying to comfort me about the whole situation. It's not his fault if it doesn't make much sense to me.

"Oh." I say, and pick up a skewer of dango. "But this isn't cheap dango." I mutter. This is actually the most expensive dango on the menu, and this is probably one of the most expensive specialty sweet shops in Konoha.

"I do not like cheap dango." Chichi responds, and picks up his own skewer. The look on his face is blissful as he chews, politely, and not the least bit chipmunk like.

The statement is so ridiculous that I laugh instead. "B-but then why did you say it was cheap?"

He pokes my cheek. "Eat your sweets."

"Won't Mikoto-san mind?" I lean in close, so I can whisper this without being so loud. "She'll know you ate it." I whisper. "And you'll gain _weight._ "

Chichi freezes, pulls the empty skewer from his mouth and leans down, an unhappy glint in his eye. "Eat." He leans down to whisper in my ear. "And you'll gain _weight_ as well."

The last statement undoes my composure completely. I dissolve into helpless giggles.

* * *

I'm up to my elbows in flour in Mikoto-san's kitchen later that week. She's laughing at me, helplessly.

"Oh Hana-chan." She brushes a bit of butter off of my nose. "I had no idea that you could do this to cake batter."

"Mikoto-san!" I wail. "It's not my fault that I stirred too hard!" Sure, there's more flour on the table than there is in the bowl, but still. It's not so bad a failure...and I won't stir this hard next time.

She covers her mouth with a hand, and pulls herself back together. "Uh-huh." She looks happy, radiant even. "So much energy." She sits down next to me, and takes the stirring rod from my flour covered hands to complete the task. "Tell me, Hana-chan." She asks, still completely focused on her task at hand. "Why has my anata been looking so guilty recently?"

I freeze. "I have no idea what you mean, Mikoto-san." _Oh no. Chichi, couldn't you keep a secret? Chichi, if you couldn't keep a secret, why did you take me out to eat sweets?_

"Hmm..." She continues on, airily. "I don't suppose you could tell me why I found him standing on the scale in our bedroom two nights in a row either, could you?"

"No." I say softly, while trying not to betray Chichi's unfortunate fall off of the bandwagon. "I couldn't possibly." But the thought that Chichi's actually incapable of hiding anything from Mikoto-san is a sweet one. I knew always, that he held her opinion in high regard, but this, this is a fond and rather funny anecdote.

"Ah well." Mikoto-san finishes stirring the batter, and straightens up to get the cake mold from beneath the sink. "I suppose I shall just guilt him with all sorts of desserts until he tells me what he did." She has an unholy gleam in her eye. "And then we shall see." I watch as she pours the cake batter into the mold with fascination.

Her hands are steadier than mountains. Not a single drop is spilled.

"Mikoto." Chichi sighs from the doorway. "I have a confession."

She turns to him with a fond smile. "Yes, Anata?" She waits, expectantly. "You have a confession?"

"I." He says with great effort. "May or may not have...trampled your roses." That's not what he means to say, I'm sure. He'd meant to say, he may or may not have consumed seven skewers of dango this Tuesday. "Last year." He adds, almost hastily. "After the Bon Festival."

Mikoto-san nods. "Hmmm. I had wondered which one of you it was." She sighs, a hand on her hip. "And to think I punished Shisui-kun for it despite his protests." She leans in close, and sets a hand on his chest. "But that's not what you wanted to say, is it, Anata?"

Chichi looks rather like he'd like to sink into the floor. "Mikoto." He protests. "You know what I wanted to say."

Her smile is poisonous. "But Anata." She singsongs. "You didn't say it."

Chichi closes his eyes, but turns his face heavenward as if he is praying. "I may or may not have...also eaten seven skewers of dango last Tuesday." He confesses, as if to an unyielding goddess.

Mikoto-san steps away to stick the cake into the oven. "It wasn't so hard to say now, was it, Anata?" She twists the dial, and sets her hands on her knees, not turning back to look at him. "But you know that sweets aren't good for you."

"Chichi and I went to a dango place." I can't let him take the blame by himself. "He only went because I was supposed to eat cheap dango and cry."

Mikoto-san blinks. "Oh my." She sets a hand against her cheek. "But I'm sure he didn't need to eat seven skewers in commiseration with you." She glares fondly at Chichi. "He knows better than that."

Chichi makes a hasty retreat out the door, and Mikoto-san doesn't follow him. Instead, we wipe down the kitchen table together, in a half silence.

She sighs. "What will I do with that man?" She asks the air, almost exasperated, but mostly fond, as she shakes her head.

"Is weight gain really that terrible?" I ask her. It seems harsh to ask him to eat no sugar, just because he might gain weight.

"It's not the weight gain, Hana-chan." She says, as I pass her a clean rag. "Anata's Chichi-ue had several health concerns due to his sugar intake, and I refuse to see Anata tumble down that path because he can't control his sweet tooth."

I blink. "Chichi's love of sweets is hereditary?" I mean, Ita-kun clearly also had a sweet tooth, but I'm fairly certain that Sasuke hates sweets with the burning passion of fifty thousand suns.

Mikoto-san frowns. "His heart problems are hereditary as well." She scrubs the table over once more. "Uchiha Ryosuke was dead of a heart attack by forty-five."

Well. That sounds...rather bleak. "I'm sure that Chichi will be fine." As far as I am aware, Chichi is perfectly healthy, and perfectly fine. And he has Mikoto-san to watch over him. _He'll be fine._

 _As long as Itachi doesn't kill him the year he turns forty._

* * *

I'm sitting alone at my weekend training field when Gai-san appears out of nowhere. Granted, it is rather early, and granted, he is running along on his hands, but I am rather out of the way, so I feel as though it is withing my rights to believe that I am what he is searching for.

"AH! MY MARVELOUSLY YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM OF SPRINGTIME!" He screams as he gets nearer to me. "HOW ARE YOU DOING ON THIS FINE SUMMER MORNING?!"

I wince, and pull as much chakra out of my ears as possible. "Gai-san. Not so loud please."

He flips himself upright, and flashes me a thumbs up. "NO PROBLEM!" He yells into the distance. It is, for what it's worth, less loud than it was before.

I forgive him for hurting my ears. It's not as if he's doing it to be mean or even truly on purpose. "And I am well, thank you." I can't really tell him that I feel as though everything has gotten fourteen times more complicated than it used to be, but that's alright, he doesn't need to hear it.

"I MUST COMMEND YOU, YOUTHFUL BLOSSOM!" He arranges himself into a cross legged position before me, and smiles a smile so bright, I'm not even sure that it is humanly possible without genjutsu, and I am regularly inundated by Kiba-chan's brightest smiles.

"What for?" I ask, and stretch forward, touching my right ear to my right knee.

"KAKASHI HAS BECOME BETTER!" He shrieks at the sky.

I blink. "Better from what?" Because if Kakashi has gotten sick again, I need to find some time in my life to yell at him.

"YOu must have noticed." Gai-san leans forward, and presses his own face very close to mine. "My hip and cool rival is a dead fish most of the time."

I move backward slightly, which is very hard to do given that my right ear is still brushing my right knee. "I didn't know that Kakashi had fish lips." I remark casually. He doesn't, but I'm not willing to address the fact that _Maito Gai thinks Kakashi is a dead fish. Maito Gai has just compared Hatake Kakashi to a dead fish._

"THAt is NOT what I MEANT!" Gai-san seems a little frantic now. "I AM HERE TO THANK YOU FOR FIXING MY ETERNALLY HIP AND COOL RIVAL! HE MAY ACTUALLY BE A HUMAN BEING NOW!"

"Oh." I blink, and lean over to the left side, which has always been my weaker side when it comes to flexibility, and wince at the feeling of every muscle in my back and leg scream at me for being so stupid. "That's okay, Gai-san. I don't think it has much to do with me. Kakashi just needed to think about life for a while."

Gai-san pats me on the shoulder and straightens up. "We should go for a jog!" He announces in a somewhat serious tone. And curse him, he looks too hopeful. I agree.

* * *

I don't want to do anything after we finish jogging, but I actually had a to-do list today, and I am loathed to part with it. Social change doesn't come if I don't force it to, anyway. Right now, I have all the pieces in my grasp, or nearly there.

 _Well. Let's go see if Kasuga actually means it when he calls me Taicho._

I move down to the Genin Corps Barracks, and rap on the side of his bunk. "Kasuga-kun?"

He flips upright so fast I am almost afraid that he'd hit his head against the top bunk. He shares that one with Ito Fujio-kun. "Taicho!" And he looks so genuinely pleased to see me. He slams his forehead into the ground by my feet. "I heard you were promoted to Hime-sama! And you have recently become the apprentice of an Honorable Elder!" He doesn't move from his crouching position. "Congratulations so much Taicho!"

I pull him up, because for one, he is attracting weird stares, and for two, he is making me uncomfortable. "I am just the same as ever, Kasuga-kun." I am for the most part the same, if a little more tired and stretched than I used to be.

"That is to say, Taicho has always been amazing." He does straighten up though, so for what it's worth, it's an improvement.

"Can I ask you to help me with something?" I don't necessarily feel bad about what I'm about to ask him. "I'll pay you for the job." He doesn't do much in the Genin Corps most of the time, and this job might even be enough to take him out of the Genin Corps forever. He'd be able to quit, since I'm perfectly capable of paying him.

"Of course Taicho may ask for anything that is necessary!" He nods to himself, stars in his eyes. "I would walk through fire for Taicho!" He seems even worse than the last time we'd met.

I feel the distinct urge to melt into the floor as I drag him along. "I need you to come and do research with me, Kasuga-kun. And it might be enough of a job that you never have to work in the Genin Corps again."

* * *

We end up on the road to the Archives, and I explain everything that I am about to accomplish. His eyes are huge by the time I finish the basic overview. "So we need to contact builders, and food distributors, and materials and construction, and keep in touch with the people that live inside the district." His mind is clearly flying.

Maybe this is what he's meant to do. Sensei's good at pattern detection. Suzaku-san's good at memorization. Shikaku-san is good at strategy.

Maybe it's Kasuga's talent to be good at urban planning. He's spitting out ideas so fast, I almost don't have time to categorize them, and so many of them are things I haven't thought of. "-And we'll need to train some new teachers for the students, and get a look inside the civilian schools and contact textbook publishers, and _Taicho."_ He says. "We have to recruit Fujio too, and several others, this needs to be a committee, and we have to start so many contacts-"

I laugh at his enthusiasm. Who knew that the boy who'd been so harsh and unenthusiastic would be so excited about this.

 _I really must learn not to judge._

"Round up everyone in the Genin Corps that you think would have interest in this." I have four million ryo, and I can always petition Yasino-nii for more next year as long as our work is succeeding. "You're right. We do need a committee on all of this." He's been down to Yoshiwara more than I have, and as far as I am aware, he's kept up many more contacts inside the district than I have. "And recruit anyone inside Yoshiwara, that you think would be happy to help us in detailing their actual problems." I tap my fingers against my thigh as we walk. "We need to be fixing problems not as we see them, but as they are seeing them."

Kasuga nods, and starts making notes on a small pad that he's pulled from some pocket or other. "We need to see how much construction costs. I'll need to go back down into Yoshiwara to start taking those surveys this afternoon, I'll need a good sample size...let's say sixty people to start...and then I'll recruit some others tonight in the barracks." He taps his pen against his lips. "I'll be able to pull together some people for you tomorrow, Taicho."

I think back to the stick thin children that I'd seen on my first trip down. "We need food first." I decide at last. "Before any of the buildings go up, we need to start feeding the people."

He nods. "We'll want sustainable food, and non-perishables first. And oh that reminds me-" He scribbles furiously on his notepad. "We need to look into the water system down there too, and contract some workers to help tighten up the sewage department."

It sounds like a lot.

I am inordinately grateful that Kasuga has suggested that we form our own committee and delegate some of the work.

* * *

"Back again?" Suzaku-san drawls as I push open the door to the Archives, and meander down the staircase into the musty dust mote filled air. "You've been making quite a stir, kid."

I laugh. "Suzaku-san, look who I brought with me today."

Kasuga is standing a few feet away, shifting back and forth, staring at his feet. "Hello, Suzaku-jiisan."

"If it isn't Kasuga-kun." Suzaku-san doesn't seem to be reacting the same way that Sensei did. "Haven't seen you around in a while, how's it goin' yeah?"

"Thought the clan wouldn't want to see me for a bit." He drops into a chair in front of Suzaku-san's desk. "I made some pretty bad mistakes."

"Kid." Suzaku-san slides his feet off the table, and stubs his cigar in the ashtray. "Everyone makes mistakes. Not saying that yours wasn't a bad one, but hey, at least everyone's still alive." He turns his attention up to me. "Didn't think you'd be friends."

I shrug. "I can learn not to judge."

"Mmm." He tilts his head, as if he's trying to picture it, and can't. "So, tell me about what you want to look up."

Kasuga perks up, and starts showing Suzaku-san his notebook. "So we were thinking we've got the building plans down, 'cause Taicho's got them, but do you know where we can start contacting builders? And food suppliers and merchants."

"Shelf 84 third row down, seventeenth scroll from the left. Should be the directory." Suzaku-san smiles lazily at me as Kasuga races off. "I've never seen him this excited."

"Maybe it's what he's meant to do." I tell him, and follow after Kasuga. "Thanks Suzaku-san."

He grunts in response, and lights another cigar. "Need anything else, just ask, yeah?"

* * *

I meet with the rest of Team Ensui at Mufu-an that evening. Itachi's called a meeting, and purposefully excluded both Sensei and Kiho-baachan. This has to do with their well-being. We need to pool all of our observations together.

"I hereby call this meeting to order." Toku raps his knuckles on the table of our private room. "And someone ought to fill Mu-kun in right now, because I hear that mission to Taki went a bit weird."

"It was not ideal, yes." Mu-kun slips off his glasses, and sighs. "Shishou had several senbon related injuries, and he was grouchy all the way home."

Itachi raises an eyebrow. "Well, I can't say that I feel any sympathy for him." He comments mildly, and turns to a notebook page full of observations. "He did tell us that death is free."

It's unlike Ita-kun to be so vindictive, but I guess Sensei's been...rubbing off on him.

"So the gist of the matter is, Kiho-baachan had a miscarriage." I cut in, to get us back on track. "And we all know how well Sensei would take even a hypothetical situation like this."

"I see." Mu-kun's a bit frozen yes, because it's all news to him. "I see." He repeats, and a string of kikaichu crawls over his face, agitation clear in every motion. "That-is bad."

"Yes." Toku replies, and swirls his tea around in the teacup. "What is worse, is that they are both now in an emotional slump." He turns to me. "We'll hear from Hana who has had the most recent contact during one of Sensei's-"

"Meltdowns." I offer, because I'm not sure how to describe it properly. "The last time Sensei, snapped." I take a deep breath. "His shadow knocked over the bookshelf in the living room, threw the tea table against a wall, and shattered some highly expensive glassware. His next plan of action was to forbid me from visiting his house because he felt it to be unsafe to be associated with him, and he then followed it up with a very disturbing statement about how he is a failure."

Mu-kun fidgets uncomfortably with a kikaichu on his hand. "That is-that is bad."

"Yes." Ita-kun leans forward, and frowns so hard that the stress lines on his face take on an even worse crease. "That is worse than I recall it to be."

"We have to do something." Toku glances at me again, worry in his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay, Hana?"

I pat his hand. "Sensei's a bit weird right now. It's not how he really feels about me." I hope to Okami it's not how he really feels about me.

"Yeah." He leans his head against my shoulder, and sips his tea. "But it still has to hurt."

I nod noncommittally. It hurts.

"We must endeavor to first target the root of their depression." Mu-kun says. He seems to have gotten over his initial shock. "When the hive is experiencing a disturbance, every worker is affected. Only by finding the point of conflict are we able to effectively sooth the disruption." He turns to me. "Sensei thinks he is a failure." He taps his fingers on the table, still agitated. "That is difficult. We must find a way to engage his mind."

"But Sensei isn't working right now." Ita-kun muses. "And the Hokage is not about to order him back to work after something like this."

"We don't need him to go back to work, do we?" I ask. Sensei's mental state right now means that he probably won't be such a great code breaker anyway. "We just need him to be busy."

"Exactly!" Toku slams a fist onto the table. "We need to keep Sensei especially distracted so that he doesn't relapse into guilt and problems." It's not a permanent fix, but we're hoping that Sensei will be able to process things better after some time has passed. "We also especially have to limit his access to alcohol." Toku frowns really really hard. "Haya-neesan says that he nearly gave himself alcohol poisoning last time, and that the health problems will only get worse if he keeps drinking."

"So we'll think of something else for him to do." I go over the situation in my head. "Kiho-baachan looked alright the last time I was there, but I don't work with her as closely as I once did. Toku, what do you think?"

"She's upset about everything of course." Toku sighs. "And she cries easily about stuff, but that's also normal. Sensei's issues are really weighing her down, and of course, she can't stand to look at anything that has anything to do with babies." He leans forward, and whispers. "She burned the cradle that she's had for forever now last week."

That...is also quite disturbing. Kiho-baachan had acted so _normal_ the last time I was there _._

"So we need to also distract Kiho-baachan." Mu-kun decides. "We must make sure that she picks up another hobby or something."

"Yeah." Toku runs a hand through his hair. "Her current sleeping habits and emotional state aren't sustainable."

"Actually." Ita-kun sets his teacup down. "Kaa-san's been looking for someone to help her with her charity projects."

We all turn to look at him. "Do you think you can have Uchiha-san invite Kiho-baachan over?" Mu-kun asks. "It might be just the thing to take Kiho-baachan's mind off of things."

Itachi frowns. "It'll have to be Kaa-san's work with the Widow's Fund, not the Orphan's Fund because well." He looks helplessly up at us. "There are babies that are part of the Orphanage."

"Doesn't matter." I decide. "Just make sure to remind Mikoto-san not to let the babies near Kiho-baachan." We needed to help somehow. We need to help them, and we are united in our love.

"Okay." Itachi takes another nervous sip of his barley tea. "I'll ask."

"That's one down." Toku sighs. "I dunno what to do about Sensei to be honest."

And that is the essential question: how do we distract Sensei? How do we distract a Nara man who is so single minded? Not even the four of us can tell.

* * *

 **A.N.** So, we have, Hana and Inabi's patrol, Danzo being evasive (Hey! Fu appeared! It only took 67 chapters), Sensei's complete dissolution, Fugaku attempting to be comforting (Also the bit about dango and cry is something Kosshi used to do.), Mikoto and Uchiha family history, Kasuga the urban planner, and Team Ensui meeting and plotting.

If anyone is willing to listen to my shameless self promotion: Sunfall is up. And it's about Madara and Romance.

And this week has been hectic. I learned I was deferred from my first choice university which, well you know. There have been worse things.

Thanks so much to Axel Fones (No, Danzo is certainly not an idiot. He's actually fairly competent at a great deal of stuff.), Dreamy-Girl2016 (Not to worry. Fugaku is fine.), spicyrash, Rinnala Llethan (Yeah, Yasino is her best role model for this, given that he's so opaque most of the time. And yes, Danzo did have a motive for his first lesson, and his evasion of the second one. As for Nara-sensei, well it's more like a case of, I know you know I know you know I know you know...ad nauseum. At the moment, no one's moving on that chess board.), libraryrockerr (The hints are there, as to who Danzo is reminded of.), UmbreonGurl (I'm glad that this fic interests you.), OddShadow (I don't know that Danzo's supposed to be likeable exactly, human is more of what I'm going for.), Forgotten Lost Ancient, AnimeFreak71777 (:P), LittleMissSugarLess, NightsBlackRose13 (Sensei is inside a mental breakdown. Which is to say, his hair is going to turn white.), ManawaSasa (Yeah. Fugaku shall have no secrets.), Uzumaki D Narut0 (Yay!), Grimmjow-Girl (Yep. Fugaku and Itachi have many parallels.), Guest One (Kakashi is doing okay. He'll come back later. And this chapter had fluff with Fugaku, of the teeth rotting kind.), Still Chasing Reality (You could say that.), angrypixels, NotXeno (A lot of it is that Hana doesn't know how to deal with Kakashi's breakdown, and thus, decides to never mention it again.), Guest Two, Cooked Ghost (There's a lot that goes into Kaito. It's very complicated, and the road that led Danzo into murdering him is rather less straightforward than, oh foreign sleeper agent, let's murder. Fugaku's dealing with a lot of political stress, which causes his bad mood, he hates politics, and the workforce down at the station chooses to interpret this as Taicho has anxiety because his Hana has gone missing.), Yuki Suou, Roxygirl87, Lizyeh2000, A (Yeah, the transition between chapter 64 and 65 is supposed to be frustrating.), StarklyRamie (I hope you've arrived here, and if so, yes, Kaito's heart is always supposed to make people cry.), Arngeirr (Wow. That's some fast reading speed. And I'm always open to constructive criticism, so I'm a bit curious as to which things you found fault with. Drop me a PM if you have the time?) and Guest Three for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	68. Entanglements Arc: Four

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Well." Toku says, as we wrap up our meeting. "Would we like to meet at my house next week?" It's been another two hours, but we've gotten no further on Mission Distract Sensei.

"Are you sure that-" Itachi pauses, and only now do I realize that he's never been invited to the Hyuga Compound before. "It'll be...okay?"

Toku shrugs. "It's not as if Hiashi-sama can hate us any more than he does now." He smiles, but it's a little brittle at the edges. "No worries, come over whenever you'd like, inheritor of the Sharingan be damned."

Mu-kun snaps his glasses open, and slides them over the bridge of his nose. "I do not understand your family unit, Toku-kun." He says, and pulls up the stiff collar of his tan jacket. "But, I am beginning to believe that the hive is run differently."

Toku grins at him, lopsidedly. "Forgive us if we don't understand _yours._ " He quips. "We still don't know how you learned to talk before listening to our chatter at the Academy."

I poke Mu-kun's cheek, with an extra douse of fondness. "Maybe he knew only introductory phrases, things like: I conclude you two must be my teammates after graduation. May I sit with you?"

Mu-kun bats my hand away, kikaichu humming irately. "I said considerably more than that, Hana."

And it's Ita-kun who presses his hands over his stomach and his forehead against the tabletop, choking on his giggles. "I did always want to know about that." He wipes the tears away from the corners of his eyes.

"And I always wanted to know," Mu-kun adjusts his glasses, and they glitter dangerously in the natural light of the room. "How the son of Uchiha Fugaku learned his social graces and necessities." He tilts his head in my direction. "We know that Hana comes with the inability to keep her mouth shut unless it is absolutely necessary and that is in keeping with life on Dog Hill, and Toku comes with his non-Hyuga tendencies because of us, but you, Itachi-kun, I am not sure I understand."

Ita-kun frowns at him. "Tou-san can be polite...when he wants to be." It's a weak defense at best. Chichi is most certainly capable of being polite. It's just that well...his lack of facial expression didn't help him any. For someone who doesn't know him very well, it still feels like he's being rude even when he's trying.

"And my parents..." Mu-kun finishes. "Can talk when they want to."

"Oh, come on now." Toku slaps a hand over each of their shoulders. "We're all Team Ensui here. There's no need to prod and poke at each other because of clan politics. The four of us will always be standing together no matter what happens, yeah?"

We nod once, in affirmation to everyone else, and to ourselves, on that faded afternoon. _We will always be Team Ensui._

* * *

I am once again, sitting in front of Elder Shimura. It is a Wednesday afternoon in the tail end of July. I still have no idea why he wants to speak with me, or what his apprenticeship deal is really about. _Maybe it's all a plan to torture Sensei. I wouldn't put it past him._

"What," He says, fingers tapping absently against his desk. There are papers spread over it, and I am tempted to glance at them to figure out what he actually did with his daily life, but I also doubt that he'd anything potentially incriminating on his desk. Not for the first time, I wonder what the Hokage's Advisers actually did during their day to day lives. _Well, besides the whole, ruin everyone else's lives thing._ "Is the difference between Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara?"

I blink at him. "One of them was the Shodaime and the other was the village's first traitor?" The two men are as different as night and day. The question's almost a little...too sim-

"That's too simplistic an answer." He huffs at me. "You might as well have told me that one of them was a Senju and the other was an Uchiha. Tell me what made two very similar men fall apart, Inuzuka-kun."

I don't know what it is that he wants me to say. _He considers the Shodaime and Uchiha Madara to have been similar men? How?_

"You are a student of history, aren't you?" He asks me, a glint in his eye that I cannot place. "Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it."

"Uchiha Madara gave up." I say at last. "He couldn't hold onto his beliefs for long enough." Unspoken goes the idea that the Shodaime did, and that, giving up, as a general rule, is bad.

"An interesting choice of words." Elder Shimura says. "Gave up. For all intents and purposes, most people would say that Uchiha Madara didn't believe in giving up."

"He and the Shodai were friends." I counter. "And that means that they had to share some of the same values." And by attacking the village he gave up on those values for something else.

"Did he share those values, or did he simply yield because he had to?" Elder Shimura asks. "The Uchiha were outnumbered by the end. Perhaps he sought survival."

"But," It doesn't sit well with me, to think that any Uchiha merely sought survival in the face of insurmountable odds. "Would he have felt so betrayed by the village as to attack it several times over alone, if he was not invested in its creation?"

"So you argue that it was because he felt something then?"

"He had to have." I respond. "All Uchiha feel things." It's against my better judgement, but it mirrors my thoughts. _If Uchiha Madara calls himself an Uchiha, then his heart is made of flame like every other member of his clan. And he's just as irritated betrayed as Chichi would be, if not more so, since he's from a time when the Uchiha were more passionate and less civilized._

Elder Shimura leans back in his chair. "So you've discovered that then." He looks up at the ceiling. "I shouldn't be surprised."

"Shishou?" I ask him. "What do you consider to be the vital difference between Uchiha Madara and the Shodaime?"

He looks at me. "One of them won." He says flatly. "The other lost. If Uchiha Madara won we'd be sitting here singing his praises instead of the Shodaime's. Or," he spins around to stare at his bookshelf. "We wouldn't be sitting here at all."

So he doesn't consider it a fundamental difference between good and evil then. I suppose that I shouldn't have expected it to be. Shimura Danzo doesn't believe in good or evil. He believes in efficiency, and brutality. He rises. "Both men were idiots."

"Why?" Elder Shimura doesn't consider Konoha in and of itself to be an idiotic principle. He wouldn't do anything for it if he did. Strangely, lumping Senju Hashirama in the same pool as Uchiha Madara wasn't what I'd expected of him though.

"They were easily led by their hearts." There's a hard edge to his voice now. "Remember this, Inuzuka-kun, having a heart is all well and good, but if you accomplish nothing in your lifetime then no amount of heart will make up for it."

"But surely, even someone who doesn't lead armies or build nations have significance to the people that they're close to." I look up at his clenched jaw, and wonder if he's ever been truly close to anyone in his life. He's friends with the Sandaime, but still. "Won't your children's children be grateful for your life if you loved them?"

"Then by your argument, no one without a family has a purpose." He sits back down again. _Does he have a family? I shouldn't have opened my stupid mouth before saying it like that. It makes everything seem worse._

I frown at him. "I said people that they're close to, not necessarily a family. No one lives forever, and everyone has to at least have connected with one person."

"No." He agrees. "No one lives forever, but we may all leave a legacy. That would be accomplishing something, Inuzuka-kun."

It's the way he says the word, legacy, rolling through the air as if it's the one thing that he's fond of that brings me up short. What did Shimura Danzo consider to be his legacy?

Is it ROOT? Is it Konoha? Is it something else? What, in the seven hells would a man like Shimura Danzo be _fond_ of?

"Now, if we were to receive a missive this time tomorrow from Kumo regarding a border dispute, what would the letter you draft to the Raikage include, and how many times would you inadvertently insult his intelligence?" He pushes a blank sheet of paper toward me, and I take it, all thoughts about Elder Shimura and his legacy forgotten.

"Shishou, I'd try not to insult him, even inadvertently." The thought that I could insult someone without thinking about it makes me wince. _Has ten and a half years made me so socially insensitive?_

He picks up a scroll, and unrolls it. "You're an Inuzuka. Inadvertent insults are in your blood."

With that lovely thought, I pick up a pen and begin.

* * *

"Taicho?" That weekend, I meet with Kasuga and his gathered committee in Kiba's favorite yakitori place. "Taicho! Over here!"

Kasuga's waiting for me in a booth in the seat facing the door, with Ito-kun by his side. "Kasuga-kun, Ito-kun." I greet them both with a nod, and then turn to the other three people squished into the other seat. "And you all are?"

Some of them are rather familiar now that I think about it. I've probably met them before, while searching for Kasuga. "Saito Tamaki." The sandy-haired young man offers me a hand, and I take it. "And this is my sister, Saito Ruri, and Watanabe Naoya. We heard that there was someone hiring."

"We're here for social progress." Kasuga protests. "Not for the money, get it through your skull, Saito."

"Oh, shut it, Kasuga-fukutaicho." Ito-kun wacks his shoulder. "Just 'cause you think Taicho's fantastic doesn't mean that the rest of us can't decide we'd rather work for wages than for free."

I resist the urge to cackle madly. It seems I've gained yet more people who simply call me Taicho. "It doesn't really matter why anyone is here." I sit down on the chair provided in the aisle. "Just that you are, and for that I'm very happy."

"Oh, this isn't everyone, Taicho." Kasuga waves a hand. "Souta's team is in the Ninth District doing interviews, and Masato's team is researching population numbers in the Archives, along with more merchants we can contact in various places to provide is with nonperishable foodstuffs, and Yuki's leading a team to figure out what the most cost-efficient and easy to transport building materials are so we can reasonably set up some school buildings to teach people basic trades."

I blink at him. _He really is brutally efficient._ "So how many people are part of the Committee right now, and what age is everyone?"

Kasuga unrolls the papers that he's been waving around. "I would say that currently there are about thirty-five of us, thirty-six if we count you, Taicho. Our eldest member is Saito over here, at twenty-six, and Taicho, you are the youngest at ten and a half."

So we're a group of young upstarts then, ready and willing to change the world whether it be for money or something else. I clap my hands together and smile. "Well, now that we've begun to organize, who wants to go to the Civilian Council Meeting next month to twist some arms?"

It's Ruri-chan who leans forward. "Oh." She says, a glimmer of something dark in her eyes. "Haven't I been waiting all my life for someone to say that to me?" She winks slowly in my direction. "I'm gonna like you, Taicho."

Naoya-kun elbows her in the stomach. "Say, Taicho." He says with a glance at me. "Do we have a name to call ourselves?"

I fiddle with a loose thread on my sleeve as I think about it. I have thought of a name back when it had been just me, scheming about how to get Danzo and the Daimyo to pay attention to a just barely ten year old, it's just...well, a bit embarrassing. "The Yoshiwara Reconstruction Project?"

"The Yoshiwara Reconstruction Committee." Ito-kun slams his fist on the table. "Since this isn't just a project anymore, and it's going to be a fact."

"It's a mouthful though." Tamaki-kun groans. "We can just call ourselves the YRC and be done with it."

* * *

Kasuga and I end up walking to the Archives to meet up with Yuki and Masato's teams. He is still vibrantly elated. "I could've got some more people in on this, Taicho." He says to me as we walk. "But I thought maybe we shouldn't try to go overboard yet, until we figure out just how much stuff we'll need and everything, and yeah, I guess some of them are in0' cause the wages are better and the work is steadier than the Genin Corps and-"

"It's good." I tell him, and I can pinpoint the exact moment when he freezes and looks at me again. He looks so surprised. "I mean it." I tell him. "I like the way you've organized things." It's more than I could have done by myself. For all that I've been handed extraordinary luck in my pursuit in the form of Yasino-nii, I just don't know enough people who would have the time and energy to help with a project of this magnitude.

And here my thoughts stutter to a shuddering halt. _Time and energy._

 _An all consuming project for a Nara brain._

 _And we need an actual adult doing some advising about this whole thing anyway. We can't just be a group of children and young adults running around despite not knowing much of anything on how economics works._

 _We can't all be young revolutionaries with a pipe dream, and Sensei is nothing if not realistic about accomplishing things._

"Really?" He rubs the back of his neck with a hand, and winces when he pokes himself with a pencil. "I-aw thanks, Taicho."

"Yes. I mean it." I say, and link arms with him. "Kasuga, you remember Sensei right?"

He shudders slightly. "Yes." But then he casts me a glance that reminds me that I should really know better than to ask if he remembers the man who nearly ruined his entire life. "I'm very well acquainted with Ensui-jisan, yes."

"He's going through a rough patch right now." I say, and remember just how _many_ shattered cups there'd been on Sensei's living room floor. "And he needs something to keep his mind occupied."

"I love and respect you, Taicho." Kasuga winces. "But I don't think putting Ensui-jisan and I in a room together regarding anything would be good right now." He kicks a pebble down the path as we walk. "I mean, I did go over and see him, cause your Hyuga teammate found me and all, while still death glaring me, I might add, but he threw me out of the house, wouldn't even look at me. I don't think we get along right now."

And it would be selfish to ask him to try, when this project's what's keeping him afloat. "Hmm. I wasn't going to ask Sensei to do much of anything physical." I tell him, instead, though I thought that maybe dragging Sensei to part of the city that he hasn't seen before might motivate him to do a little more, be a little more balanced or something, something more than what he's doing right now. "But more like, have him think about this instead of his losses or something."

"So, you mean, he'll stay in his house, and come up with ideas, and I won't have to speak to him?" We're at the doors of the Archive now, Kasuga and I.

I look up at him and nod. "The worst you'll have to do is write to him or something. I'll do the talking, and Sensei won't be taking any of your jobs. He can be our adult consultant, you could send anyone on the committee to talk to him."

He takes a moment, and sets almost shaking hands on my shoulders. "You should be glad that you're you, Taicho." He tells me. "It isn't for anyone that I'd do this, but for you I will. Talk to Ensui-jisan about it."

I smile at him. "You're a good person, Nara Kasuga."

He blushes violently, from beneath his collar to the roots of his hair. "Aw, Taicho." He shifts from foot to foot and looks away. "You don't really mean that."

* * *

On Monday afternoon, I arrive at the station to find it in a state of semi-turmoil. Inabi-san throws a radio in my direction as he spits out orders to the team of six in front of us. "This is a large scale drug smuggling ring, working in the Second District, not ten minutes run from here, if we take to the roofs, but there are at least thirty of them. We'll be going in cautiously, cautiously, you hear?" He glares at me, and another younger Uchiha. "I'm getting married in December, I don't want my funeral to come before that."

"Yes." The other Uchiha beside me laughs. "We'll make sure to protect you from the body bags, Inabi-taicho."

Inabi-san flips him off without missing a beat. "Go drown yourself in the river, Uchiha. We're splitting up, teams of two. I'll go with Yashiro. Setsuna you're with..." He spits out another two teams in rapid fire so quick that I don't even really catch their names. "And Hana-chan can go with Naka." He points out the younger man who'd sassed him earlier. "And mind you two do _not_ take anyone's head off."

I shuffle into the utility room with everyone else a full head and shoulders taller than me and somehow, feel thoroughly dwarfed. Normally, I don't feel like this, but everyone moves too efficiently for me to feel like anything other than a child.

Naka coughs from behind me. "You're holding up the line, Hana- _chan._ " He pulls my belt tight from behind me, spins me around, and hands me a pair of nightsticks. "Don't want to be late now." His fingers ghost over the Uchiwa on my left shoulder, and a corner of his mouth turns down, just slightly.

I want to ask him if he's fine, but he's already hurrying along after the others, and if I didn't catch up, I'd be left behind. I decide that catching up is better than starting a discussion about his attitude in the middle of the station.

"What are we supposed to be doing?" I ask him, as he splits off from the main group about two blocks down from the supposed drug dealership.

"If you weren't late you would know." He's still walking at a brisk clip, but I've been keeping up with my morning runs.

I can take his pace. "I was kept late by Shishou." Danzo, who'd kept me later so that I could draft generic letters to foreign dignitaries. I'm beginning to suspect that the man has a twisted desire to count how many times I could inadvertently insult someone in a sentence without even meaning to. Who knew that starting a letter with "Dear Kekkei Genkai Thief (The Head Cloud Ninja)," would be so problematic? It's not as if anyone besides Danzo himself read my letters anyway.

"We're supposed to guard the back entrance." Naka-san tosses over his shoulder, and stalks forward, nightsticks gripped tightly. "And all you need to do is stay out of the way."

I try not to be offended. It's not as if I know that many people at the station anyway. Besides Inabi-san, Kagen-san, and Chichi, I barely spoke to anyone. This is the first time that I haven't been paired with Inabi-san over the four months that I've been working in the Military Police Force. They probably still find me short, and know nothing about me to begin with.

Which is really my fault. I get the feeling that even Kiba-chan could have done better than this. He's got the world wrapped around his little fingers, tugging at everyone's heartstrings with his kicked puppy eyes.

* * *

The first thing I learn about a holdup, is that it's actually really boring. Naka-san has us hiding in the house across the way, and he's laid out eight shuriken on the window sill, along with a handful of senbon. Then we settled down to wait, he in front of the window, me, two feet to his right.

I can still hear what's going on outside on the street through the thin plaster walls though, and I have a grip on two kunai of my own.

"Che." He rubs his hands together, shoulders tight. "Not like we'll be able to bag anyone from this position anyway." He looks me up and down, Sharingan inactive. "Why're you in the Force anyway?"

I shrug at him. "Would you believe me if I told you this is my dream job?" He probably wouldn't. He doesn't seem like a trusting individual. But then, he's an Uchiha, it probably comes with the territory to look and act like the opposite of what you are on the inside in public. At the moment, I am the public, in our dingy hideout room, with its flaky plaster walls.

He snorts. "Yeah right." He gestures towards the door. "Inuzuka that you are, you probably thought this shit was exciting."

"Inuzuka that I am." I respond, more than a little cross. I'd spent the first two months of employment in Chichi's office reading briefs about inane complaints that I didn't even know was real crime. If I thought that this was supposed to be exciting, reading eighteen case files about someone's moldy socks would have had me resign. "I don't know how to lie."

"Your father was the non-clan outsider though." He muses, still staring out the window, a shuriken around his right pointer finger. He fiddles with it, spinning it over his gloved fingers rather aimlessly. "Surely he taught you to tell lies."

"Strangely enough." I reply, rather tartly. "Kaa-san chose a man who didn't know how to lie just as much as her. Funny how we choose spouses that fit with our own family values sometimes."

"Hmmph." He muffles what might have been a laugh with a hand. "You're telling me that Iwa no Kaito didn't know how to lie?"

And now, that's just irritating. "Not to his daughter, he didn't." There's the sound of footsteps from the house across the way. I rise from my crouch, gripping my kunai tighter than absolutely necessary. "And Naka-san?" I ask him, without bothering to turn to look. "His name was _Inuzuka_ Kaito. You best remember it."

A Katon Jutsu bursts through the doorway we'd been watching.

And then everything goes to hell.

* * *

The first thing I notice, as I roll through street in the smoky dust-filled air, is that there is the glint of hitai-ate that really don't belong in Konoha.

 _I thought this thing was a drug bust? What're other ninja doing here?_

And then I have no more time for thoughts. I clash kunai with an indistinct shape in the smog, and we trade a flurry of blows. Somewhere far away, Inabi-san's still shouting orders, or relays, or something. The radio on my hip crackles, and another voice comes through, but I barely have time to pay attention to it. "Hana!"

It might be Chichi, I don't know. A heavy fist swings through the air, and connects with the radio. Something cracks. It might have been the radio. It might have been my hip. I am thrown to the ground.

I land on my hands, bits of gravel working their way into my skin. I flip myself upright with the same momentum, thankful that chakra breaks my fall enough that I don't have any broken bones.

A hissing in the air reminds me to duck.

Senbon rains down over my head, filling the shape that I had been fighting with into a pincushion."Naka-san?" I call, in the darkness. He'd set out a handful of senbon, but the weapons are also a Kiri trademark, and the air is rapidly growing thicker and grayer. Somehow, I doubt that Kiri nin kill my enemies.

I don't even know if these are Kiri nin that we're fighting with.

There is no reply, only a scream. I don't know if it's an attacker or Naka-san or any of the other six men and women that'd been in the house. Somehow, I don't think whatever went down in the house was all that good.

The scream had come from the same direction as the senbon.

I shake the pain from my bones and dive towards the direction from whence the screams had come.

The air parts above my head, and I swing a kunai up in the same direction.

It meets flesh, and a grunt of pain resounds from somewhere in the fog above me. Whatever blow that had been coming toward me is also aborted. I stab my other kunai in the same direction. It also meets flesh, but I also don't know where the enemy is anymore. I have also lost both of my kunai, and I am not used to this belt.

The fog has reduced all of my senses to practically nil, only my hearing remains, and even that is faint, and echoing.

"Hana-chan?" I crawl towards the sound, careful to avoid the senbon still on the ground.

My hand is on his chest before I realize that I've nearly crawled on top of him. It's sticky with blood. "Naka-san?" I ask, and carefully test the air to see if it at least, smelled like him.

 _Very bad._ _It's confirmed. This is Naka-san._

I lean down next to where I assume his ear is. "Where are you hurt?" _Uchiha don't lie about on the ground for no reason._ I think, halfway hysterical.

And that's when another blow bludgeons me in the back of the head so hard I see stars. I throw out a hand behind me, pain blossoming down the back of my neck, and it is Raiton chakra.

My arm shudders with the backlash, the familiar feeling of burn racing through my palm.

 _Well, at least I know how it feels to be struck by lightning._

And then everything is quiet.

* * *

 **A.N.** Well. In this chapter we get...Team Ensui being itself. Danzo and his strange ideas about the Founders. (Guess which one he likes best?), and a drug bust that went really...really wrong. At least the hospital scene will be fun. (Guess who's going to show up?)

I have recently been finishing my college applications, which is why writing has slowed. I shall attempt to be more punctual in the future.

Thank you so much to angrypixels, WhiteFang001, CrowsRaven, spicyrash, lizyeh2000. Axel Fones, Born To Sleep, Zeru'Xil, Evanelle, StarklyRamie, AnimeFreak71777, Amaspa, Filthycommoner, X Mika-Chan X, Grimjow-Girl, libraryrockerr, LoganAlexander, Guest One, CassieInTheDark, Guest Two, Cooked Ghost, The Real Chys Lattes, Ladybug002, Uzumaki D Narut0, 64, Kaitlyn Anderson, sarana154, and angelicana1230 for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed!

~Tavina.


	69. Entanglements Arc: Five

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I wake up in the hospital. At this point, I kind of expect it. That Kiba-chan is sleeping peacefully on my chest instead of having a screaming and wailing temper tantrum because he can't make anything better is unexpected, but quite welcome.

It's the fact that there are three men that I never expected to willingly appear in the same room together, much less a hospital room, that has me a little bit worried.

 _Let's see...Chichi is currently death glaring Danzo. Kakashi is still reading porn. And my beloved Shishou...is...doing paperwork. I should have known._

Everyone except Shishou looks like they have gotten remarkably little sleep, but then, it is hard to tell with Shishou most of the time.

Kakashi's book snaps shut. "Oh, look, Hana-chan's awake!" He chirps, with forced brightness. Something about his plastic eye smile tells me that I have to find him some more flowers and cook some more food before he forgives me for the latest hospital visit that he's made of his own volition.

A small bead of sweat slides down my brow. "Hi?" I offer him rather weakly.

His only response is to turn his plastic eye smile up to a higher wattage. I decide that this particular situation is unsalvageable at the moment. _I'm sorry I worried you, but this response is excessive._

"At the present." Elder Shimura glances up from his paperwork. "I would like an explanation as to why you have missed our meeting. It is Tuesday afternoon." And he is displeased, but I doubt it's that-it is probably that important.

Shimura Danzo hates to waste time, and time unstructured is time wasted. It's probably why he's doing paperwork in my hospital room. Might as well multitask. I am unsure as to how he will punish me for this latest infraction. I have no doubt that I _will_ be punished. This is Shimura Danzo, wasting his time always leads to punishment.

I hold up a bandaged hand, making sure not to jostle Kiba. "Because I was in the hospital, Shishou." I report. _It's not as if you couldn't see that...and then promptly left instead of moving your paperwork here of all places._

"How interesting." He flicks a piece of paper at me. "I want to know _why you are in the hospital, Inuzuka-kun._ " I blink, mostly in shock, and Chichi's death glare intensifies, if at all possible. _Or well...miasma of death has gotten thicker if not more intense._

"I have chakra backlash burns on my hands." Simply attempting to push Raiton Chakra out into the air without a jutsu in mind is a bit dangerous. It just also seems to be my default reaction when in a life or death situation. The atmosphere of the room gets exactly zero degrees better. I am surprised that Kiba is still peacefully sleeping, but my other arm tightens just a little bit around his middle.

I can't protect him, but at least I can draw as little attention to him as possible.

"Doton doesn't cause _burns._ " Shishou all but snaps back at me as he viciously signs a sheet of paper.

"My secondary affinity is Raiton." And this is a bad decision, in all the possible ways, but at least I didn't say that it's a dual affinity. At least I didn't do that...but I did pretty much everything else not well. _It's not as if he can drag me off to ROOT now. What else could he possibly do to me?_

 _He didn't even know Tou-san all that well, so it doesn't matter does it?_

 _Besides. Tou-san left his research notes at home, so there's no paper trail for him to pick up on there either regarding my kekkei genkai, and Kakashi isn't telling._

"I see." He says shortly, and promptly picks up his stack of paper and leaves the room. "Do not fail to be on time tomorrow, Inuzuka-kun."

The door clicks shut behind him. I relax, imperceptibly. He didn't pay any attention to my darling little brother, who merely wriggles, and hugs me tighter.

Chichi turns his glare to Kakashi, who keeps reading and ignores him completely. Well, not completely, the hand that's turning pages fidgets with the binding and his foot is tapping, so I assume that Chichi's glare really is bothering him.

"Chichi?" I ask. "What happened?"

The glare is promptly shifted back to me. I tap a hand on Kiba's shoulder. _Don't wake him up, Chichi. You won't like the consequences._ And Chichi has the good grace to look slightly abashed.

"There was an incident." He turns his glare back to Kakashi. "You can leave."

Kakashi raises his head from his choice of literature, and opens his mouth to protest, but something in Chichi's gaze must have spoken deeper. He closes Icha Icha with a snap, and disappears out the window.

"There were foreign shinobi, weren't there?" I ask, but the door opens at that precise moment, and Kaa-san steps in.

"Thank goodness you're awake, Little Nose." She ruffles my hair and carefully pries Kiba off of my chest. He wriggles and mumbles half a protest, but slips even deeper into sleep. Kaa-san casts him a fond look. "He's been beside himself."

I feel a tiny pang of guilt at this. "I'm sorry." _Sorry, Otouto, I really did worry you didn't I?_ I've never been out for this long at home.

She shrugs, and Kiba protests again, a little louder. "Want Neechan."

"Oh, yes." Kaa-san gestures to something that's beyond my line of sight. "I brought you more coffee. With that amount of paper, you're going to need it."

"I would need it less." Chichi begins, something like an undeniably fond smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "If your son didn't have the lungs of a wolf instead of just the fangs of one." He takes the cup she offers, and tosses it back easily. It is clear that Chichi has finally seen what Kiba is like during a temper tantrum. _Howling. Yes._

Kaa-san laughs. "What can I say?" She shrugs. "We are wolves." She prods Kiba's cheek with a finger. "Cub, Hana's awake."

He rubs his eye with a fist. "Neechan?"

"Kiba." I say, and he's out of Kaa-san's arms faster than anyone can say wiggle.

"NEECHAN!" He makes a mad dash towards the bed and hugs me tightly.

I hiss when he bumps my bandaged hand. It seems that not all of the burns had been taken care of yet. _Note to self: Buy burn cream._

But it seems that it's used up all of his energy. He's drowsy and half asleep the next moment. "Neechan." He sighs, as his eyes slide shut once more.

Kaa-san picks him up, and he doesn't protest this time. "I'll take him home, alright, Little Nose?" She asks. "He's all tuckered out at this point."

"Of course." I tell her, and that is truer than I really hope it is. "I'm sorry to have worried everyone."

She laughs as she makes her way out the door. "You know, I think this was the first time I've seen Shimura _Danzo_ of all people concerned about something. You really are something, Little Nose." I do not think that Shishou's concern was about me exactly. _I knew it. The punishment for this stunt is going to be the worst. He'll probably force me to sort his filing cabinets or something._

And then it is only Chichi and I in the room. "How is everyone?" I ask. If I am here in the hospital, if I've been here for a day or so already, and I wasn't even in the house, then I don't want entirely to know what happened to everyone in the house. "Inabi-san, Naka-san and the others?"

Chichi sighs. "Naka-kun is in critical condition. The rest of the squad..." And suddenly he looks older than his late thirties.

An icy fear grips my heart. _Inabi-san joked about body bags right before this, Okami. Don't let it be true. Don't let it be true. Don'tletitbe-_ "Chichi?" I still can't keep my mouth shut. Why can't I keep my mouth shut? "What's wrong?"

"Yashiro was killed." Grief etches the stress lines on his face deeper. "Setsuna has severe injuries."

That's four of us. That's half of the eight that went into the job. "Inabi-san and everyone else?" I ask. _One is dead, two are critically injured, I am fine. What about everyone else?_

"Inabi has been retired." He picks up his pen again, but I can see his hand shaking. "Everyone else got off with more minor injuries." _One dead. Three critically injured. Inabi-san had a career ending one. And the other five of us are fine._

 _Okami._

"It wasn't a drug dealership was it?" I ask, as I climb to my feet. My head swims, but I still have to fill out the incident report. I force myself to walk across to where Chichi is sitting, and it gets better. "From what I remember, the house was engulfed in a Katon jutsu, and then there was some sort of fog in the street. Our opponents were shinobi. There were hitai-ate that weren't ours."

"No." Chichi agrees as he passes me a piece of paper. "We stumbled on something far more dangerous." He rubs his temples. "I can't even-" And something about him just shatters, and he looks worse than ever. "Can't even-"

I reach out toward him, but it feels like there's an invisible wall around him. My hand doesn't touch him.

"-Punish the ones responsible, they've been punished enough." His face slides into his hands. And it's clear that he's been running on anger, putting on a brave face for the people that didn't need to see his weaknesses, but he's-there are still people who could see.

I start gathering up his papers, despite the stinging in my bandaged hands. "Chichi, we're still in the hospital. You can tell me all about it when we're home, alright?" Knowing Chichi he probably hasn't slept, hasn't gone home, hasn't done much of anything, just sat here signing papers and beating himself up until other people started arriving.

He nods, but I'm not really sure that he's heard me.

* * *

We make the very long trek back to the Uchiha District together. I'm sure we make a strange sight, a little girl with bandaged hands and an impressive stack of paper, and the Uchiha Clan Head with another stack of paper. It seems that Chichi's autopilot is his face of stone. There's no one who dares say anything to his face, or not get out of his way, but the street erupts in whispers as soon as we pass.

I'm too drained to pull any chakra to my ears to figure out what they're saying. I get the feeling that I really wouldn't appreciate it anyway.

The mood in the district is ghostly, somber, awful. _There's been a death. There's been a death in the line of duty and the entire clan is mourning for it._

Chichi stumbles as he crosses the threshold. "Anata!" It's Mikoto-san, Sasuke-chan right behind her. "Tou-san?"

Chichi waves them away. "Fine." But he's still leaning into Mikoto-san's hold as they make their way down the hall.

Sasuke-chan trails after me, frowning hard, as I set the pile of paperwork down on the kitchen table. "He never pays attention."

And I do have to remind myself that he's only five years old. He doesn't know, doesn't understand, and certainly wouldn't have been told about the recent events. "Chichi's very tired right now." I settle for that. How to tell him that a member of his clan _died,_ that his father feels personally responsible, and he isn't ignoring his younger son on purpose?

Sasuke sets his arms on the table and frowns at me. "He's always tired." But he slides off of the chair, and makes his way around the table to me. "What's wrong with Neechan's hands?" He asks, his frown somehow harder now, so much so that he's glaring at the bandages all the way up to my wrists.

"I got burned." I tell him, with an awkward smile. "Do you know if there's any burn cream in the house?" Now that Mikoto-san has Chichi, and the paperwork is on the table, I've finally gotten around to my protesting hands. "And food would be nice too."

He starts moving almost immediately, racing over to a kitchen drawer and rummaging around. "Here, Neechan!" But then he withdraws the tube of burn cream almost as fast as he offers it, choosing to set it on the table and start unwrapping my bandages himself instead. "Shouldn't do this when hands are injured." He mumbles, and blushes when I send him a questioning look.

Sasuke at his core is a kind hearted little boy. He's not entirely gentle as he hurriedly pulls the bandages away, but I leave him to it. "Thank you, Sasuke-chan."

His response is to mumble something out of the corner of his mouth, and blush harder. "Neechan's burns are really bad." He slathers a liberal amount of cream onto the palms of my hand. It's not so much that it's a burn, but more that it looks like it's been struck by lightning. There's feathered bruising up my arm that looks like the twisted branches of a tree, and I'm surprised that I've been able to ignore it so easily. "What sort of Katon jutsu was it?" He asks me.

I pat him on the head with my uninjured hand. "It was a Raiton Jutsu."

"Oh." He nods, and rewraps my hand with new bandages. Then he bounces over to the refrigerator and pulls out a plastic carton of something, and then another kitchen drawer and a spoon. He turns around while peeling the lid off of the food. "Neechan open your mouth."

"Sasuke-chan, I can-"

He expertly shoves the spoon in my mouth, a mutinous frown again appearing on his face. "No, you can't."

* * *

Mikoto-san returns to the kitchen to find Sasuke still attempting to feed me rice pudding, and me attempting to tell him that it's okay and I can do it myself. She giggles as she takes in the sight, though she very quickly comes to my rescue. "I think Hana-chan will be fine, Sasuke-kun."

He very reluctantly stops. "But Kaa-san," He turns big teary puppy eyes up in Mikoto-san's direction. _You learned that one from Kiba-chan didn't you, Sasuke-chan. You know those aren't fair._ "Neechan's hand is injured by Raiton Chakra! She can't use it to eat food."

"She can use the other one, Sasuke-kun." Mikoto-san carefully smooths down his hair, with a fond smile. "You can't forcibly take care of other people when they don't want to be taken care of." There's a shadow in her eyes as she says this, and I get the feeling that she's not talking about me. _Chichi._

Mikoto-san is married to Chichi, who can't possibly be the easiest person in the world to worry over, and today must not have been one of those easier days.

Sasuke pouts, but he sets the rice pudding on the table and slides off of his chair. "Get better soon, Neechan." He attempts to pad down the hall towards Chichi's room, but Mikoto-san stops him with a hand on the shoulder. "Sasuke-kun, your Otou-san's tired right now. You can talk to him later at dinner, ne?"

His face falls. "He's always tired." But Sasuke adjusts his course, heading outside instead. "M going to the flower shop to find No-chan 'cause Kiba's gone too."

Mikoto-san watches him go, something of concern tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I'm sorry, Hana-chan. Five is a difficult age, and every child's different."

"He thinks that Chichi doesn't want to spend time with him." I tell her, because clearly Sasuke loves his father, loves him deeply and is also deeply confused about how Chichi treats him. All around him are people who show him unreserved affection, and Chichi too, loves him dearly, but his actions are rarely so easy to read as Itachi's or Mikoto-san's or Shisui's.

"Anata is busy." Mikoto-san sighs. It's clear that she doesn't like having to say this, and it's not what I meant, but I don't know how to explain what I meant. "And Sasuke-kun isn't as quiet as Itachi-kun is, so there is no way that he'd be able to sit still while anata signs papers."

"I know." I tell her. "I know." I just wish there is some way to make him understand it, but maturity doesn't come without a cost. Sasuke deserves to be a little boy for as long as he can.

We sit in silence for several minutes as I finish the plastic carton of rice pudding. "How is Chichi?" I ask at last.

"He says that he'll be fine once he's slept some more, and that he'll talk to you tomorrow after you arrive at the station." He says that he'll be fine, but there are plenty of things today that have cut him. I can't imagine sitting in the same room as Danzo did much for his well being.

"Alright." I rise. "I'm sor-"

She catches me by my uninjured elbow, and shakes her head. "Don't be, Hana-chan. It isn't your fault." She smiles at me, but it doesn't quite reach her eyes. "These are trying times for all of us."

* * *

My feet take me on a wandering path through the village, all the way to the flower shop. "Inoichi-san?" I ask as I enter, taking care not to use my right hand. "Can I get consolation flowers?" As far as I am aware, the others are still in the hospital, and seeing as how I'd just run away from my room, I should probably head back. But if I am going to head back, I should bring them something.

Inoichi-san blinks at me. "You know," He begins. "I've seen several people who've had to do with you today."

I blink back at him. "That's very interesting." But then I remember that Sasuke must have shown up before me to get Ino, and it's less interesting. "Sasuke-chan is great friends with your daughter though. I heard from Kiba-chan."

"Oh but-" He seems to think better of continuing. "You said that you wanted consolation?" He turns around, arms crossed to look about his flower shop. "You want to tell me which ones would be consolation?"

"White poppies." He's trying to cheer me up in his own way, I know. Inoichi-san would hardly forget something so common, if not popular. It's part of his clan pride to remember these sorts of things, and he is a Yamanaka. "White poppies for consolation."

"Yes." He nods. "You're just as good at this as ever, Hana-chan."

Had I really seemed so blue? I don't really know, but he's good at this sort of thing, so I should really know better by now. Yamanaka Inoichi is nothing if not a mind reader, and more often than not, he uses his skills at reading people to soothe them.

"Thank you, Inoichi-san." I muster a smile for him. "For the flowers and for trying to cheer me up."

He chuckles, and tugs a stray lock of my hair. "Good luck with your consolations, Hana-chan."

"Inoichi-san!" He's back to thinking that my flowers are for Kakashi. "These are for my team who's still at the hospital." He has the good grace to look abashed, and I raise a hand to wave at him, before heading back out into the dusty streets.

* * *

"I want to see Inabi-san." I tell the front desk this with mild impatience. "I'm his co-worker." They don't quite seem to believe me, but I'm not really in the mood to be stopped. "Or I could just wander around the hospital until I find him." It would be simple enough, I'd just follow the scent of his blood. It might be faint under the general scent of the hospital, but they won't be able to just erase it.

If I wanted to badly enough, I'd find it, and right now I do.

"We can't give out his hospital room number to co-workers." The receptionist looks somewhat sorry. "Please don't take this the wrong way, Inuzuka-san. We'll want you to step out of the hospital."

I frown at her. "Then I'll sit here until you-"

"Hey!" A boy grabs me by the wrist. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Your apprenticeship is starting today." He slaps a hand to his forehead. "Please don't tell me that you forgot about something as important as this-" He keeps rambling as he drags me along, past the reception and into one of the elevators. It's only when he turns around to push several buttons that I realize who he is. _Kabuto._

 _How-_

"So why are you looking for a member of the Uchiha clan?" He asks. He doesn't seem dangerous. He's maybe a year or two older than me, dressed in hospital scrubs with an apprenticeship lanyard about his neck with an id card clipped to it, and a name tag pinned to his shirt. But then, Kabuto thrives on not looking dangerous.

"Like I said." I take a breath, and look down at his name tag. "Yakushi-san, he's my co-worker and I'm here to give him flowers." He really had caught me running an innocuous errand. _He worked for, will work for, is working for Orochimaru._

 _Orochimaru who passed not a mile away from my stretch of the border when he defected._

 _When does Kabuto start working for him?_ I don't know. _Why is he helping me?_ I don't know.

"Really?" He adjusts his glasses and looks a little disappointed. "I was hoping for some sort of cool story." The elevator doors open, and we both step out. "Well, I suppose you'll be able to find him by yourself now, Inuzuka-san." He taps the side of his nose. "With your clan talents and all." He waves at me while he heads down the hall. "I've got work to do, but maybe we'll meet again, Inuzuka-san."

"Yeah, maybe." I agree weakly. _Never if I can help it. I don't believe that you'd do something like this without some sort of motive, but I have no idea what that is._

* * *

Finding Inabi-san's room is easy after that particular scare. "Inabi-san?" I ask, as I step into his room.

He raises a hand from the bed, where everyone seems to be gathered. There are two others in the room, both from the not particularly injured group. "Ha-" He breaks into choking coughs.

I toss the flowers on the beside table and rush forward. "There's no need to keep talking; I just brought you flowers and-" I didn't see before, why he would need to be retired. _Are these-burn injuries from the exploding house._

 _What was going on in there?_

He's gotten skin grafts on the bottom half of his face, and his other arm is firmly bandaged, as is his torso, but his left leg has been amputated below the knee. _It was really bad then._

"Well, at least some of us are okay." The woman-she's a girl really-says, her face in her hands. "Cousin Tekka, could you please close the door?"

Her companion gets up with a nod, and closes the door. Meanwhile, she's turned to me. "You're Inuzuka Hana-chan, right?" I nod. She doesn't seem unfriendly, doesn't seem particularly prickly. "I'm Iyami." She offers me a hand. "Kiba-chan is your brother?"

I take it, with an answering smile. "Yes, I hope he hasn't been troubling you?" To think that Kiba's become a known entity inside the Uchiha compound is a little interesting. _Darling Otouto, what have you been doing that's so interesting?_

Tekka-san's face breaks out into a grin. "He's whitewashed my grandmother's fences, when she sprained her ankle." He shrugs. "He's a bit loud, but he's a good boy."

I nod at this. "We care for him a great deal."

"Hana-chan." Inabi-san gestures weakly to his face. "Do I look okay?"

Iyami-san turns back to him with a sigh. "Inabi-taicho, we told you that Hazuki-san won't mind." _Who is Hazuki-san?_

What can I tell him? He's still looking at me as though the fate of the world hinges on my answer. "You look as though you're lucky to be alive?" I smile weakly at him. _What can I say? What's the right thing to say?_

Iyami-san and Tekka-san exchange a glance.

He laughs, but that quickly turns into a coughing fit, which subsides gradually. "So blunt. Yeah, I guess I'm one lucky bastard." He still sounds rather loopy, but I suppose it's the be expected.

One doesn't survive major surgery without being at least partially drugged to the gills. I'm more concerned that he hasn't mentioned his lack of leg below his left knee. _He's concerned about his face, but I don't know why that would be. Isn't losing half a leg more importan-wait._

 _What was it that he'd said before this job?_

 _"Married in December." Oh. Hazuki-san must be-_

"Maa!" And the door bangs open. "So the puppy's started going around to other people's rooms now, instead of staying safely put in hers." That sounds a lot like my favorite S-Class troll.

"Kakashi, it's not polite to barge into other people's sickrooms." He's reverted back to calling me a puppy, which is yet another sign of his irritation. I don't entirely want to turn around, to see what sort of expression he could make with just a single eye.

His hands land on my shoulders. " _Hana-chan._ " He says, voice saccharine sweet, next to my ear. "I don't _give a damn._ " And then he promptly picks me up by the collar and starts walking out of the room. "So sorry." He says, conversationally to the three other occupants of the room. "But the overeager puppy needs training so she doesn't kill herself."

"Put me down." I wiggle, but I can't get out of his hold. Nor, can I at the moment, zap him with anything resembling a Raiton Jutsu. "Kakashi! Put me down."

He lets me flail.

* * *

In fact, it's a true sign that he's irritated. He lets me flail all the way down the steps and out the front door of the hospital, down a series of streets, as he jauntily whistles a tune.

I have no idea what he's doing with his other hand, but I assume he's rereading Icha Icha Paradise. We attract some really odd looks. He's still holding me out in front of him like a misbehaving puppy with a single hand. I'm still flailing and trying to convince him to let me go. And we make a really odd pair.

He doesn't stop with the public shaming even when we get to his doorstep. Instead, he does some weird sort of juggling act, and then promptly dumps me on his couch. "You." His face is less than an inch away from me, and his eye smile is so plastic that I'm sure it's actually become a half circle. "Need to hold this for me." And he promptly shoves a bouquet of flowers in my good hand.

And then he disappears.

Geraniums. _Stupidity._ Yellow Carnations. _Disappointment._ Azaleas. __Take care of yourself for me.__ Oh.

He's trying to speak my language now. And staring at his flowers makes me feel bad. He'd been worried. I knew he'd been worried, but seeing it written so plainly makes me feel awful. I'd promised him that I wouldn't be dying by associating with him, but I'm sure that the last few days said otherwise to him.

It's a miracle that he's still speaking to me at all, after this latest hospital stay.

I rise. "Kakashi?" I ask. "I'm sorry, will you come out to speak to me?"

His apartment is silent.

* * *

 **A.N.** And thus we have, the hospital room of intense discomfort. I try to imagine what Danzo, Fugaku, and Kakashi would have to say to each other before Hana woke up, and I can't quite do it. Needless to say, it would have been incredibly awkward.

And fighting things have consequences, but no actual things are solved.

Thank you so much to OddShadow, LittleWolf1991, lizyeh2000, Shy911, AnimeFreak71777, Axel Fones, X Mika-chan X, angrypixels, Love Stories00, Grand Laise, Shinobi of the Hidden Leaf, UmbreonGurl, Libraryrockerr, ReadingneardOtaku, Forgotten Lost Ancient, Guest, Cooked Ghost, StarklyRamie, FictionlessVet, Grimmjow-Girl, WhiteFang001, Malawi Hies, NightsBlackRose13, angiewan328, Big Fan, Heretogetthestory, and jikap for reviewing!

And everyone who favorited and followed.

It's a new year everyone. Bloodless is still alive.

~Tavina.


	70. Entanglements Arc: Six

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"Kakashi?" I try again. Maybe he hasn't heard me last time. I can't help attempting to believe this, even though it is patently stupid. _Kakashi has better ears than you, and his apartment isn't all that big. He heard you._

And if he isn't coming back, then I-I stand up, and still holding the flowers, go looking for him.

He isn't in his kitchen area, and there's only one other room. I don't think he's left the apartment, so I check move through to his bedroom, dragging a chair behind me. The door's locked.

And I still can't pick locks. At least it tells me that he really didn't just up and leave me.

I knock instead. "Kakashi? I'm sorry. Can I come in?" And because I'm tired, I lean with my forehead against the door.

There's a rustling, and then the sound of footsteps. I hastily peel myself away from his door. "No." He says from the other side of the door. "I'm mad at you."

A muscle in my cheek twitches. "But then why did you get up if you aren't going to unlock your door?" It's probably going to take a while. I'm back to leaning against his door.

It jerks open, and I stumble forward with a slight yelp. "Kakashi! Why?" _I thought you said that you weren't opening the door._

He catches my shoulders. "Stop trying to injure yourself." He sounds undeniably cross.

He also seems to be taking great care to not actually let me into his room.

"What did you do to your room?" I'm beginning to suspect that him being cross with me is secondary to whatever he's done to his room.

"I've done nothing to my room. Why do you ask, Hana-chan?" He's smiling very awkwardly.

I attempt to look around him, but the actions really awkward considering that I'm still holding onto the chair and his flowers, and his hands are still holding my shoulders.

"Is that a child's drawing?" There's a piece of paper taped to the wall above his bed, and it looks vaguely familiar. I'm out of his hold in a moment, flowers and chair forgotten. "This is Kiba-chan's." It's a picture of...me? In what might pass for a dress, and...what might have been Kakashi's face. With the big triangle over the bottom of the oval, and another big square over the left side, it's hard to tell. Perhaps Kiba-chan was attempting to draw his mask. Or something. At least he managed to get the spiky hair part down.

Despite all of his good qualities, Kiba-chan is really not very good at drawing. His artistic ability is limited to stick figures and shapes. Still, I've been gifted with enough sketches and doodles that I recognize his work when I see it. "When did he give you this?" _And why do you have it taped over your bed?_

"It was forced upon me." He pulls me away from the thing, and sits me down in the chair. He sits down on his bed, and makes sure that his shoulders cover the doodle. "I had no choice in the matter."

I suppose Kiba-chan might have tracked Kakashi down to give him a doodle, and I suppose Kakashi might not have wanted to simply reject it, but still. "You didn't have to tape it up." That he did, well, just more evidence that he cares.

That he wants to care, but doesn't want to get hurt. _Is this how you're always going to act?_

"It's what you do." I blink, and he shrugs. "I wasn't going to frame it." He taped it up because-oh. _He's seen what I do with Kiba's sketches._

He's only seen my bedroom once, but he remembered what I did with Kiba's sketches: tape them on my walls. "I'm sorry." We need to get back to the task at hand, and that is to say, I have to say sorry. "I wasn't in danger of dying."

I might have gotten a major concussion, which is why I didn't wake up. Often, with more dangerous head injuries, the medics ensure that the patient doesn't wake up until an advised amount of rest has passed.

"Not in danger of dying." He says flatly. He folds his hands together in his lap, and rakes them through his hair, until his head's nearly between his knees. "Not in danger of dying."

"I really don't think that it was-"

He glares at me with his normal eye. "I distinctly remember that you made me a promise, Hana-chan."

"But the first rule of friendship is no dying." We can't do this again every time I get injured. I wasn't in serious danger this time. "I wasn't in any danger of dying."

"As much as I rather you not get injured." And here he eye smiles at me in a manner that doesn't make me hopeful of my future prospects. "You were in danger of dying."

I'm not sure if he's being unreasonable. He points to my hand. "You had chakra burns."

"That happens every time-"

He's on his feet, an ugly expression on his face as he grabs me by the shoulders again. "Every time?"

"Every time I'm in a hurry." Somehow, I don't think he's being unreasonable any more. Raiton is dangerous, and I had set my hair on fire with a jutsu before, but I did tend to get burned more often than the normal shinobi with a Raiton affinity. I don't think hand burns are typical, even for normal people, but I don't have any normal people to compare myself with.

He blinks at me. "Who taught you Raiton?" He lets go of me, and starts pacing back and forth in his match box bedroom. "I doubt it's Nara, because Nara doesn't know any Raiton Jutsu, and doesn't do half assed teaching." He turns a corner sharply, and comes back. "But you were clearly burnt that other time too." He stalks past me. "Who taught you something so shoddy?"

"I taught myself?" It's really the wrong thing to say, but no one has taught me any of these. I'd figured out the difference between the chakra affinities that I had by myself. I'd learned Raiton from a scroll I found in the Chunin Access level.

"You taught yourself." And now he sounds as inflectionless as Chichi on a really bad day. "You taught yourself. DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS THAT IS?" He shakes me back and forth like a ragdoll.

"Kakashi." I protest. "You're-ouch." My bad hand bangs against the chair, and he lets go of me to collapse back onto his bed.

"Okami." He whispers to his hands. "Okami." He looks like someone's slapped him upside the head, disoriented, and confused.

 _He swears by my ancestor? Why?_ Now is not the time to ask him, because he's clapped his hands together, a cheery smile from hell on his face. I can see it even from underneath the mask. "Well, someone needs to go through remedial studying, because they clearly didn't learn any Raiton safeguards."

I wasn't aware that there were any. "But I'm fine..." I protest. At this rate, it feels like he's going to personally attempt teaching me. If I protest him though, I think we'd be done. I don't want to protest his offer. It's just...

From what I remember of Kakashi's teaching abilities...this can only end badly.

He picks up the chair, and transports us out of his bedroom. It's like he doesn't trust me to even walk around by myself anymore. "Kakashi, I'm not an invalid."

"You're going to listen to me." He retorts. "Or I'll treat you like one, and you don't get any say in this matter."

We've ended up back in the kitchen, and he moves around, pulling dried noodles from his pantry, and setting a pot of water onto his stove. "Training Ground Three." He says, and considers it. "Tomorrow, no. Thursday." He turns back to me. "You're going to take a day off from work and you are going to learn exactly why you shouldn't play around with lightning."

I close my eyes. I do need to learn.

It might make me go to the hospital less, and cut down on incidents like these. I don't like arguing with him. I like it even less when he treats me like a child. "Yes, of course." I tell him. "I'll speak to Chichi."

I might look like a child, but I'm not really one, and I hate when he acts like this. On one hand, I understand that it's because he's terrified of loss, that he hates it, that he feels like it's his fault, but on the other, I feel smothered and small when he doesn't even trust me to walk around by myself.

I don't know how to go back to the partnership we had back in the Chrysanthemum Court. Yes, he'd spent most of that pretending to be ordered around by me, but we'd still been a partnership instead of a dictatorship. We had discussions about what to do next. This is not a discussion. This is him attempting to salvage his peace of mind, what little of it he still possessed.

He turns back to me with a smile, a genuine one this time. "Oh good." He pulls the noodles off the stove. "Let's eat."

He seems to have forgiven me.

I hold up the flowers. "Is there somewhere I should put these?"

He blinks at me. "What did you interpret those as?"

"Stupidity. Disappointment." I take a deep breath before the next one. "Take care of yourself for me."

"Oh good." He stirs his noodles around with a pair of chopsticks. "Inoichi didn't stick in some secret message."

I feel a strong desire to set my forehead against his kitchen table. "Thank Okami." I'm becoming so sarcastic. "That Inoichi-san didn't stick in some secret message." _What? Did you think he stuck in tulips to say everlasting love or something? Don't you know about those?_

* * *

After a rather eventful afternoon, I walk home alone. I am thankful that Kakashi feels no further desire to hover.

And that he thinks I can walk home by myself.

"You smell like Hatake again." Kaa-san's waiting for me by edge of our neighborhood.

"He marched me to his apartment from the hospital, and then proceeded to lecture me about my affinity and the way I went about learning Raiton." I don't mean to complain about Kakashi, except I do. _I'm not some little kid sister that he needs to wrap in cotton wool._

"Mmm." Kaa-san ruffles my hair, and side hugs me. "You want to talk about it?"

"He acts as if I'm a little kid." I shouldn't cross my arms and stomp. I shouldn't, but I do, because I'm feeling childishly angry, even though it doesn't help the slightest. "He's not that much older than me, and he's got worse problems. He shouldn't be so hypocritical."

"I would say that he's gotten a lot better since you've somehow dropped into his life." Kaa-san laughs, and we keep walking. "And even though most people don't treat you like you're ten doesn't mean you aren't ten, Little Nose." She squeezes my arm comfortingly. "Let him care, if you really want to help him. It's been a long time since he's cared."

I stop walking and stare up at her. "Kaa-san, since when did you-" How do I even ask? "Why the change of heart? I thought you didn't like Kakashi very much."

"And you call him just Kakashi too." She muses. "People change sometimes, Hana." She sighs. "I haven't been fair to him. You were the one to tell me that."

And I had, didn't I? "Did you know him? Before, I mean." Kaa-san's Sensei had been Kakashi's father, but that didn't mean that she _knew him._

"Yes." She says. "Yes, I knew him before Sensei's death." So she did. She'd been personally concerned about Kakashi once upon a time.

I wonder when that changed.

We've arrived at the house now. "Hana..." Kaa-san says. "Let's go to the kitchen, I have Kiba-chan waiting for us." She sounds too serious, too grim. "We need to see if we're going."

"Going where?" I ask her, as we head toward the kitchen.

Her shoulders slump, and she slides open the door, and Kiba-chan leaps over. "Neechan, Kaa-san won't open the envelope."

And then I see it, the stiff creamy envelope on the kitchen table, stamped with the Uchiwa in white and red wax. And I know what it is. It's just not something I want to explain to Kiba.

 _He has to learn sometime, that death isn't something that's far away and strange to us all. It isn't something that happens in the distant past._

The last time we buried a relative, Kiba had been a few months old. _Kosshi-baasan, and several others._

Kaa-san stalks forward. "I told you that we were waiting for Hana, cub." It seems like she doesn't want to explain it either, though she picks up the envelope and squares her shoulders.

Tou-san's ghost looms in the room with us. _Kiba never knew him. Kiba never-_

Kiba nods seriously. "Knew that, Kaa-san." His voice has a bit of a whine to it, and from his place inside Kiba's shirt, Akamaru whines as well. "Was just waiting." He sets his head on his arms on the table, and sighs. "Was waiting and waiting and waiting."

Kaa-san slides a finger under the seal, and pulls out the thick card. "The Uchiha Clan is inviting us to a formal function." She tells us. "Myself, Hana and you, Kiba."

Kiba-chan blinks. "A formal...function?"

"It's like-like the clan meeting we had before the New Year's festival Kiba-chan." I hug him tightly. "Except that was a happy function, and this one isn't."

He wriggles closer to me through the chair, and sighs contently. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kaa-san sighs. "A funeral, Kiba-chan. This will be the first one you remember attending."

Kiba stiffens. "But that's for dead people." There's a hitch to his voice, a-a something in his tone. "Kaa-san! Fuga-tou said everything was o-okay."

Chichi might have told him that, if only because Chichi has a kind heart, and cares dearly for Kiba. Sometimes, I believe that whenever Chichi sees him, he's really seeing the ghost of friends past.

"If somebody's dead that's not _okay!_ " He sounds so lost. "Can't go to something that's not okay."

I hug him tighter. _Did he know Uchiha Yashiro? He knows so many of the other Uchihas._ "I think we should go." I whisper in his hair. Uchiha Yashiro had been my co-worker, even if we'd never spoken. "Kiba-chan, everyone dies. We go to funerals to show that we respect them, that they lived well. Not going would be disrespectful."

He sniffs. "'Kay." He hugs Akamaru tightly. "'Kay. We going then." _My sweet brother. This is just another way you have to grow up._

"Chin up, Cub." Kaa-san comes over to hug both of us. "You can spend some more time with your best friend, yeah?"

And through his tears, Kiba nods. "When's it?"

"Next week." Kaa-san squeezes us both tighter. "I'll order your clothes."

* * *

I'm sitting in Shishou's office again, as he looks at me over his steepled hands. "You've gotten better at writing non-offensive letters." He rumbles, while staring at my face pensively. "However, your injuries are completely unacceptable."

"My hand is fine." I tell him, politely because this is the only way I'd ever be able to talk to him. "And I've been cleared for writing duty."

His lips tighten to a flat line. There's something like nostalgia in the way that he looks at me. "We aren't writing today." Instead, he reaches beneath his desk, and unrolls a sheet of paper.

A nine by nine grid.

It's only when he sets two wooden boxes on the desk, and offers me the one with black stones that I begin to understand.

"Isn't the normal strategy game, shogi?" This is a Go board, but far less complex than the ones I've seen used before.

"I am not here to teach you war strategy. You are not a Nara." _What are you here to teach me then?_ Shishou gestures to the board. "Have you learned to play?"

I've heard of the game, but I really haven't played before.

"No."

For the first time, I see Shishou smile genuinely. "Spoken like a true Inuzuka." He gestures to the board. "Place a stone on any intersection."

I pick up a stone, and place it in the direct center of the board.

"Go is a game of territory." He places a white stone closer to the upper right corner of the board. "And with that in mind, know that the corners are better."

I place the next one in a corner.

He takes it within two moves. "When your stones are surrounded they are captured by the enemy."

I frown at the board. "Wouldn't that make the center the best place?"

"An empty intersection trapped by stones of a color are a territory." He sets another stone on the board. "And the center is difficult to defend and pointless to capture if you cannot defend it."

I lose the game horribly in about a half an hour.

"Now." Shishou says calmly as he gestures to my captured pieces. "Tell me what you've learned."

I pause for a moment, and think about it. "Sometimes it's necessary to sacrifice some of the stones to gain a larger advantage?" I'd become so focused on defending the center that it had ruined my chances to take territory. "But also, I should learn the rules of the game before attempting to play with an expert?" As I had suspected, he is horribly good at this game.

Shishou laughs. "So you'll understand if it is a game." He looks up at the ceiling. "And all this time I thought your successes in Court were nothing more than a brief flash of brilliance, never to appear again."

I consider it. We'd had discussions about...moral ethics. In which, I disagreed with him regarding plenty of different topics all at once. It must have been frustrating for him on occasion to listen to me protest the strategies that he or any of the Hokages had taken.

"If Shogi is the war game, then what is Go?" There'd been capturing territory, but each stone only derived importance from the position it had on the board.

More often than not, each stone is worth the same as the ones next to it. They only derive meaning from their formations with each other.

"Go." Shishou tells me, idly playing with a white stone in his hand. "Is all the infinite complexities of life." He returns my captive stones to me. "Now try again."

I open with a stone closer to the center, but not directly. _Claiming territory first is good, but most of the territory is in the middle of the board anyway._

He raises an eyebrow at me, and sets a white stone next to mine. "The new Daimyo is making a trip to Konoha to debate new terms."

I set a stone right below my first one. "He is?"

"He's done some interesting things since he's ascended the throne." He picks two captives off of the board. "I hear his second brother has been locked in a dungeon without light and very little food."

My heart twinges uncomfortably. _At least Asahano-san hasn't been executed straight out._

"They say the debate regarding Kageyoshi Hiruhitzen's execution has been fierce."

I frown at Shishou, who is still Elder Shimura, and really ought not to be trusted. "I thought we were playing Go."

"I thought I could tell you about the consequences of your choices." He picks another four captives off of the board. "They do after all, have consequences for more than just you."

"I won what I wanted." I tell him. "You gave me a gambit, and I needed to win." I pull two of captive stones of his off of the board.

"So the other people who were hurt didn't matter?" He idly places another stone on the board. "Just like you don't care about the captives you've taken on the board?"

"They are hardly as many as the captives you've taken." I gesture at the growing pile of black stones by his side. "You've taken so many of them. Don't you care about them?"

"No." He sounds amused. "I can acknowledge that they really are just stones." He watches me stare at the board. "Your peers may live in the comforts of peace. You have no such luxury. Winning takes sacrifice."

"Why?" I am hardly the smartest ten year old Konoha has produced, but then, if he was going for smartest, or strongest, or most tactical, I wouldn't be sitting here. "Why me?" I ask again, when he doesn't respond.

"You've proven that when push comes to shove, you win." He sets a stone on the board, and I take another two captives.

"You only teach children you think will win." _So that's what he saw when I came back from the capital. Someone who wants to win._

Do I want to win? I hadn't wanted to spend anymore time with him, but I don't know if winning is what I want to do.

"I teach children who want to punish their enemies." Can Shishou really be said to be the teacher of those in ROOT? "The trip to the capital merely proved that you had the potential to succeed."

 _Does he consider them his students? He can't possibly can he? They are his weapons. They are not people to him, that is why he brainwashes them._

 _I haven't been brainwashed._

"I am your apprentice." I say at last, after a long and dizzying moment. "Because I am to be your successor." Why else would he teach me write diplomatic letters? Why else would he teach me to play Go? Why else would he be so concerned with what I can and cannot do, what I am willing to accomplish, how much I am willing to give up, how injured I make myself?

"It took you long enough." But secretly, he seems pleased. "Still, at the moment, you, Inuzuka-kun, are losing."

The board's been overrun with white pieces. I glare at them. "Again." But then another thought strikes me. "You had other apprentices?" He needs only one successor, and he is not a young man. "Who were they?"

"One other." He admits. "He was unsatisfactory." And the chill in my chest grows worse. He sounds sad, sounds regretful, and I don't know what it means.

 _Who were they? And what happened to them?_

 _Why does no one ever mention them?_ But I put it away for the moment. It is unimportant at the moment.

We begin the next game.

* * *

Before I return to the Station that afternoon, I walk down to the Archives. The question of who exactly Danzo had taught to be his successor before me still burns my lungs.

I need to know who he was, and _how_ he was unsatisfactory. If only to avoid his fate, or to acquire it. _If I am to be his successor, then I don't think he would harm me._

 _Or alternatively, if I am his successor, it would make it easier for me to..._ No. I cannot think about this in this sort of fashion. It is more likely that Danzo would eat me instead of the other way around.

"You're back for Yoshiwara, kid?" Suzaku-san sits, with his feet propped up on his desk, cigar smoke in a cloud all around him.

"No." I really need that file on Shimura Danzo right now. "Has my Shishou ever taught a genin team?" Whoever my predecessor had been, he might have been a student of Shimura Danzo before he became an apprentice of Shimura Danzo and then simply vanished into the ether.

"Elder Shimura?" Suzaku-san opens an eye lazily and seems to be considering it. "Not in living memory. You might want to check the files for that, why?"

"He mentioned that he had another apprentice before me." My hand tugs on a loose thread of my shirt. "I just wanted to know who that was, that's all."

"Mmmph." Suzaku-san sighs. "I dunno if that's really in a file, kid." He stands up, and sways on his feet for a moment. "But it can't hurt to look it up." If it wasn't something terrible, it's probably not blacked out in Danzo's files.

I can't see an apprentice being something blacked out of the files.

I also have no idea why no one has ever mentioned how Elder Shimura took an apprentice before me, because my apprenticeship, even part time, seems like big news to other people. _How would any apprentice have just vanished?_

"Well, here you are kid. The information about your Shishou that's not sensitive enough to be kept in the Archives." Suzaku-san looks at me through his cigar smoke. "But you know, easier thing would be just to ask, cause I'm sure he still remembers the name of his apprentice, you know?"

And with that, he ambles off, leaving me quite alone with a folder so thin it might as well be that of a brand new genin. _So there's not much about Shimura Danzo that's meant for the casual observer._

 _Why am I not surprised? He's probably removed anything and everything incriminating from this._

I take the folder with me to a table. There's the typical stuff-the barebones biography: age, academy graduation date, chunin/jonin promotion age, genin teammates, jonin sensei, marital status, clan association, rankings, official jobs-Shimura Danzo has no mission record in his folder, which is why it is so thin-and then, at the very end, students and apprenticeships.

The page slips from my nerveless fingers.

Apprentices: Inuzuka Hana, beginning dated this year, and smaller still, a postscript-

Iwa no Kaito, beginning dated twenty years ago. Ending dated eleven years after.

 _One other. He was unsatisfactory._

 _Why?_ I pick the sheet from the table, and slide it back to where it belonged in the file.

I pull Tou-san's file from the racks next. Though this time, I remember that he is still listed as Iwa no Kaito on Danzo's records. It would probably do no good to look for Inuzuka Kaito, and expect to find much.

The file for Iwa no Kaito is thicker than Shimura Danzo's, including a variety of not particularly heartstopping mission records. I flip through these quickly, because it is too hard to attempt to read any. Tou-san's handwriting is still the same, neat and spidery.

If I tarried too long here, I'd start crying.

The dates for his apprenticeship match the ones I'd found in Danzo's folder. His work records indicate that he entered RnD shortly before the apprenticeship ended. I know that he'd gotten married three years before. I feel my throat clog up.

His apprenticeship had ended close to the date of my birth. He'd entered RnD a few months before I was born.

Kaa-san had always said that he gave up a job so that he could stay in the village, that he'd made more sacrifices for me than she had.

 _Tou-san entered RnD. And two months afterwards he was no longer the apprentice of an elder._

 _Two weeks after, I was born._

* * *

 **A.N.** And so...Hana stumbles closer and further to the truth of the matter. (But then, she's spent so long thinking that her father's death is an accident that she really doesn't...connect the dots. That and Danzo hasn't been particularly mean to her.) It's going to be a long ride to truth, guys.

And for the most part, I'm writing a lot more for Sunfall/Moonrise (Which is my Warring States AU involving no SI-ness) at the moment. If you guys want to check that out, it would be awesome, but just know that Bloodless is still alive, and updating slower than before.

Thanks so much to everyone who has favorited, followed, and reviewed! If there's a question that you'd like answered, or anything else you want to talk about, feel free to PM me.

I couldn't do this without all of you.

~Tavina.


	71. Entanglements Arc: Seven

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I want to go back. I want to go back and demand answers from Shimura Danzo about Tou-san. I want to ask Tou-san who he is, what he knew, what history there was in these two files. I'm not sure I want to know the answer. I can do neither. I cannot ask Danzo. I can hardly ask Tou-san.

This piece of information robs me of everything I really know about Inuzuka Kaito. _He had a life without you, Hana._ But I have no idea what sort of life that was.

The man of my memories had been gentle, sensitive, loving, a career chunin. _Normal._

The former apprentice of Shimura Danzo could hardly have been normal, could hardly have been any of those other things necessarily. _Tou-san. Who were you? What did you do?_

 _What did you know?_

 _What did you see?_

 _Who were you?_

 _Who were-_

But I have to set it aside. I still have work to do. I straighten the papers in the folders and return them to the shelves. I have work to do. The mysteries of the past can wait for a later date.

I have been waiting my entire life for the truth of things. I can wait a little while longer to unravel this mystery.

I have work to do.

"You find what you're looking for, kid?" Suzaku-san asks me as I leave.

"Yeah, sort of." I have more questions than answers. It seems like everything I've known about the world has been pulled out from under me. _Tou-san, who were you?_ "It'll take a bit to sink in. That I'm hardly special I mean." I don't want him to go and actually _read_ Shimura Danzo's file.

Somehow, digging up this past was probably not a smart move. But Suzaku-san is a Nara, and thus, as long as I don't whet his interest, he won't be motivated enough to get up and pull down folders, much less read anything.

"Mmm..." He ruffles my hair with a hand that smells heavily of cigar smoke. "Well, good luck with your pursuits, kid."

I nod at him gratefully as I leave. "Thank you, Suzaku-san." He'd been the first to actually help me with Yoshiwara, and for every endeavor afterward. Even if it is just on Sensei's good name, I have to be thankful to him.

I have to go to work, and I pray that he doesn't actually decide to look at the files I've read. Something about the whole affair above seems...unclean to me. I'm not sure I needed to know about it.

I'm not sure I wanted to know about it.

But now I do, and the questions are hard to keep from spilling past my lips.

I have to go to work.

"Hana." It's Toku, who shuts his Byakugan off as soon as I notice him. "Mind if I walk with you?"

I nod and loop my arm through his. We stroll leisurely toward the Station. "How's Sensei and Kiho-baachan?" I can only assume that he has more news about their situations. These days, we don't talk too much about the other things.

"Sensei's sliding down the tubes." Toku sighs. "He's gone back to work, but I don't know if that's really what he's supposed to be doing." He's playing with the ends of his hair with his free hand. "He says to tell you that he's _fine._ " And here, Toku throws a truly sad amount of sarcasm on the word fine. "And he's doing a really great job of pretending to be a human being."

"He's gone back to work?" That says that Sensei's gotten out of his sitting at home and dying by alcohol poisoning approach, and moved straight back into workaholic.

"Yeah." Toku shoves his hands in the pockets of his tan shorts and slouches forward. "Sensei's mind is still as sharp as ever. It's just that his heart is muddied, you know."

I do know. "Is he working dangerously?" That's the more important question. _How is Sensei trying to self-destruct now?_

"No." Our shoulders brush, and I realize, suddenly, that Toku stands over half a head taller than me now. "But it's just wrong." I can hear his defeat in his voice. He's done all he can.

But it's not up to him to fix all of Sensei's problems.

"Maybe he's trying to work through his depression." My mind is jumbled still, or I'd be able to think more than this. That Sensei's returned to work is just another idea, humming in the stewing morass that is everything else. I can't think that this is something so positive though. Knowing Sensei, it probably isn't a positive.

"Maybe." Toku slouches farther, the drawl in his voice reading more like Sensei with every passing second. "Just wanted to you to know that Kiho-baachan and I are heading out on an excursion, and Itachi-kun and Sensei are going to be holed up in Crypt for a bit, and Mu-kun's out on some tracking venture again, so the house'll be empty and all." We're in front of the Station now, and he pulls me into a tight hug. "You'll be alone in the city for a bit. Be careful."

I nod. "It'll be okay, Toku." And really, it will be, even if I feel their absence sharply. I still have to meet Kakashi tomorrow and take Kiba out for training, and there's yet another Council Meeting this Sunday, and the YRC's putting together more plans. I have plenty to do.

"We'll meet up for dinner after Bon." He tells me after he lets go, white eyes serious. "And Koma-niisan told me to tell you to be safe."

I haven't thought about Koma-senpai for a while, and the thought shames me, but still. _He'd been thinking of me. He's heard about my apprenticeship._ "Tell him thank you from me, Toku. And be safe on your trip." I have no idea where he's going, but if it's with Kiho-baachan, it's probably a place outside of Fire Country.

He has to practice his infiltration skills somewhere.

He nods, and raises a hand to show that he's heard, and then he is heading down the street, a travel pack slung over his shoulder.

I turn and head into the station.

 _We're growing up. We all have our own work now._

* * *

Chichi is arranging various papers onto a clipboard, and barely looks up when I enter his office.

I assume that after this most recent stunt, with all the explosions that it entailed, I would hardly be on patrol, or see anything more dangerous than paperwork.

"Meeting." He says without preamble, as he throws on his long coat, and zips his flak jacket over it. "With the Hokage." He adds as I stand there in the doorway, mildly frozen.

 _I suppose this is about the incident._

 _What was it that caused even the Hokage to get involved?_

"Okay." I take the clipboard from him as he straightens up, breezing past me through the doorway. I glance down at it. It seems to be mission statements, and briefly, Chichi's own impressions of the affair, as well as several particulars that I'd not been aware of.

The foreign shinobi were from Kumo.

"It is in Inabi's room." He tells me as we walk. "Inabi cannot move, and Naka can walk over."

I nod without saying anything as we make our way back to Konoha General. With any luck, this would not be riddled with explosions.

Chichi has a...troubled relationship with the Hokage and his Council at best.

"Ah, the briefs are ready then?" The Sandaime is smoking, and seems to have been smoking heavily, sitting in the hallway outside of Inabi-san's room. The council members, all except Shishou, are with him.

I spare a moment to wonder where he is, but I shove that away. It is not as if I could blurt questions at him in public. He might entertain questions and discussions in private, but never in public.

"Yes." Chichi motions for me to hand the clipboard over to him. He hands the written briefs to the Hokage, and keeps his own impressions to himself. "We should go in."

"How did the Military Police stumble upon the intrusion before the ANBU?" Elder Utatane steps in front of the door, her arms crossed.

Chichi freezes. "I was informed that there was a drug ring within the house." And then he pushes open the door anyway, and Elder Utatane has to step aside. "Inabi has more of an explanation."

And then we are all into the room.

"We will attempt to make this brief." Elder Homura smiles politely at Inabi-san, and Naka-san, who both look quite frankly still terrible. "We know that you would like to recover before our meeting, but this is a rather delicate matter."

Naka-san is pale and worn. Inabi-san still has skin grafts, and he doesn't look entirely much happier since the last time I saw him a day or so ago.

He seems to have gained more depression since. He'd at least made attempts at jokes then. Now he is grim, and silent, and seemingly more charred.

"We wrote what we knew in the mission reports." Naka-san stands over Inabi-san's bedside, arms crossed lightly over his chest. _Defensive. Why is he being defensive?_ "And my cousin needs his rest." _Ah._

 _He's close to Inabi-san. He'd sassed him before this mission, and now it's all gone south._

 _Of course he's defensive after that._

"Naka." Chichi's hand twitches, and if we were still in his office, just the four of us, he'd pinch the bridge of his nose in despair. As it is, he can merely level a chilling glare at Naka-san, who promptly shuts up.

"Torture and Interrogation has determined that this was a severe breach of our defenses. Six foreign chunin were able to gather together in the house with several other teams of genin without the notice of Konoha's main forces." The Sandaime steeples his fingers together, and the smoke in the room starts to get heavier. "How did the Military Police stumble upon the plot?"

"We didn't stumble upon it." Inabi-san mutters, before he really starts to speak. "It was a house in the Second District that we'd marked a few weeks back as the base of a drug ring that we've been concerned with. They've been working their way up from the Ninth District, dealing opium for several months now, but we didn't locate the base of-" And here he breaks into coughs.

Naka-san moves forward to pat his back and fan the air in front of him.

Smoke.

I'm sure it doesn't help any of us much. There's still too much memory stuck in the smoke.

Strange that I hadn't minded that Suzaku-san was smoking cigars in the Archives earlier, but here, with the Sandaime puffing on his pipe, I feel constricted, and cold.

"We located what we thought was the base, since there was suspicious activity, and clear sightings of opium addicts entering and leaving the house." Naka-san finishes. "That was all in the report."

"So there wasn't a special reason that they found it faster." Elder Utatane finishes. "Their stories match."

And then, the Hokage and his Council are thanking us for our time, and leaving exactly zero answers behind them as they leave the hospital.

What the Sandaime does leave is a good deal of smoke.

Naka-san opens the window just a smidge and forcibly fans it out.

"So that's all they needed?" Naka-san still seems angry, still seems vicious, still seems like he needs something to hit despite looking like a good gust of wind will blow him over. "They didn't trust what we had in the reports so-"

"Naka." And now Chichi really does pinch the bridge of his nose. He is angry as well, but he has a better lid on this anger. "Hokage-sama will ask what he asks, and that is final." And then, he steps forward to make sure that the hospital sheets are wrapped tightly around Inabi-san, and Naka-san is sitting down before he continues. "Turn the other cheek." He turns to the door, and beckons me to follow him. "And next time, do not talk back."

"Yes, Taicho." Naka-san's hands are balled to fists in his lap.

Inabi-san merely sighs. "I tried, Taicho."

Chichi seems to have kept a level head in all of this.

But I can see in the set of his lips, in the grinding of his teeth, in the tight way he grips the clipboard, that he is angry.

We head back to the station.

* * *

I know better than to ask Chichi about what happened earlier in the day. Everyone in the Station is burning with questions and protests and concerns, but no one says a word.

Still, the Station's taken on a tense gloomy atmosphere by late afternoon, as Chichi's frustration and anger bleed into every corner and crevice. On the days that Chichi is happy, the station is light and jocular.

The Station, and by extension, the entire Uchiha Clan takes its cues from Chichi's moods, and today we are all vindictively upset at being left in the dark, but Chichi has done nothing but viciously skim recent case files and make harsh looking margin notes.

I'm skimming a file about a string of petty thefts in a greengrocer's chain, when-

Snap.

And then I reflexively doge the splatter of ink that flies towards my direction.

"Chichi?" I look up.

He's breathing heavily, the two halves of his pen held lightly in his hands. The file he's been looking at has been tossed out of the way, and there is a pool of ink gathering on his heavy wooden desk. His hands are stained, but worse, he has ink sliding down his face from his temple to his jaw.

I do my best not to laugh. I doubt it would help his mood at the moment.

He makes an abortive gesture to the empty glass vase at the edge of his desk. "Hand me that."

It's a cheap glass vase, but...I strongly suspect that it will be headed toward the opposite wall should I hand it to him.

"Chichi?" I ask once more. "Isn't it not a good idea to destroy office objects?" I can't state flat out that he isn't allowed to break things in his own office. He's perfectly allowed to break objects while indulging in his rage.

He picks up the vase himself, leaning over the growing stain on his desk, and holds it with ink-stained hands. He stares at it for a long moment, and then very casually drops it onto the floor. "I ought to stop grinding my teeth."

And yes, destroying office objects is in fact, a way prevent teeth grinding. It's just...not good for cheap glass vases, but it is probably better for his jaw.

"I'll go get paper towels and the broom then, Chichi." With the growing ink stain on his desk, he'll need it.

It is late evening when we finish work, and Chichi leaves Kagen-san to close the station and gestures for me to head out with him.

"I have been negligent." He states calmly, as he hands me a pair of nightsticks. They are wooden, a little scuffed, a little worn, a smaller size than most found at the station. _They're the pair Naka-san gave me before..._

 _I didn't use them._

"Chichi?" He has a pair clipped to his waist, and we keep walking.

"You did not use them during the fight." He says simply as we end up in the training ground by the lake. "A Military Police Officer restrains before killing."

It is the opposite of every Academy lecture. _A shinobi should hit to kill._ It is diametrically opposed to every piece of advice from Sensei. _Strike first and strike hard._

But I suppose that is what the Military Police Force is a group that protects the interests of civilian Konoha. They can hardly kill the suspects before they are declared guilty.

I wrap my hands around the side grip, and feel mildly stupid. Nightstick training was not something that was covered in the Academy, and Sensei hadn't ever taught us to use them. I don't even know a basic resting position.

Sensei would have dubbed them a waste of time. They aren't typically a killer's choice of weapon. Weapons only for self-defense or basic restraint are a more civilian concept than Sensei ever really thought in. We'd had lessons in the Academy on restraining enemies, but those were a brief unit on hostage situations, and Sensei's brushed that away from his students long ago. His concern had always been for preparing us for enemies stronger than us.

Chichi adjusts my grip. "Too tight. These are not kunai. They swing." His hands straighten my shoulders, and I instinctively shift into the mountain stance. "Hn." He pauses half a minute, watching me hold the stance. "Stay."

He unclips the pair at his waist. "Watch." And then he runs through a series of katas, the nightsticks a blur around him.

It takes two minutes, but he slides back into the rest position and looks over at me.

We stare at each other for a long moment. "Chichi?" I don't feel embarrassed to say that I did not catch any of that. "A little slower please?"

He blinks. "Shari-right."

 _Did he forget that I don't...have a sharingan?_ I suppose if I were Itachi, I would have caught everything, and I'd be able to work through the practice on my own.

Somehow, this doesn't hurt nearly as much as the time Chichi had tried to teach me a Katon Jutsu, and I had produced what was basically the amount of smoke from a bad wood fire, but not even the slightest flicker of flame. Everything had been smothered.

It is different now. I am older now.

"The first strike is to the stomach." He's moving again, much slower, so that I can see the intricacies of the punch. "The second is a block." The other arm follows a diagonal block position across the chest.

I mirror him. A punch and a block. It is strange, fighting with blunt weapons, learning another weapon in general, but I don't wobble very much. It is an improvement from the first time I'd tried relearning taijutsu from only half-baked memories.

When I look up, he's watching me, eyes sharingan red.

"Hn." He shows me the third and fourth strikes next, the wrist flick to make the spin, and the two hits in quick succession, one forehand, one backhand.

I attempt it, but I botch the wrist flick, and lose control of the spin. Chichi catches it with a hand before it hits me across the face.

"Not as quickly." He shows me the spin again, slower this time, and I see the turn of the wrist, and the importance of having a loose grip.

I don't lose control the next time, though the two strikes that follow are disjointed. _Always another thing to work on. Practice makes perfect._

"Now one through four."

A punch, a block, wrist flick, two strikes.

When I look at him again, he is smiling, though only just. "Hn."

I am beginning to believe that hn means good. I turn and try it again. A punch, a block, wrist flick, two strikes. A punch, a block, wrist flick, two-

"Switch hands."

And that makes me stumble again, as my left hand has never been as strong as my right, but I move forward.

A punch, a block, wrist flick, two strikes. Another ten repetitions. If I cannot make it perfect, I need only do it until it is at least natural. Switch hands. Another twenty repetitions.

"Stop." In the deepening twilight, Chichi seems to have relaxed into some form of ease. "We will continue tomorrow after work."

And only now do I remember... "Kakashi wants to teach me Raiton tomorrow." Chichi frowns, and I clarify. "In the morning. He's concerned about the burns that I've been getting, so he volunteered to put me through boot camp, and I'm supposed to show up at Training Ground Three and-"

"You should go." Chichi calmly shuts my open mouth with a finger under my chin. "Hatake does not take students. And come back afterward."

I nod, even though I doubt that Kakashi's volunteering to teach me permanently. He has a strong aversion towards being attached to people, and getting him to teach the original Team Seven had given the Sandaime a headache and a half to get him to even consider it.

At this point, he's only teaching me so that he doesn't have to visit hospitals, and he doesn't want his friends to die of preventable causes.

As far as I am aware, he should be booted from ANBU within the next few years, and then he will start unrepentantly failing a genin team every year until Team Seven, because he would prefer not to have to be responsible for other people, at all, ever again.

But even if it isn't permanent, for him to have offered is outside of his comfort zone, abnormal, not what he would have done even half a year earlier. He'd been okay with watching me survive chakra burns in the hospital before. His reaction hadn't been nearly so _strong._

I'm a little stuck trying to figure out what's shifted. _Was it the trip to Kakunodate? Something earlier? Something I said? Something I did?_

But I can hardly ask him about it. _Yeah, I doubt asking why he isn't sticking to the script will go over well._

 _I'll just make sure to thank him, and bake him cookies or something._

 _I wonder if he likes chocolate chip._ Mikoto-san has only actually succeeded teaching me how to bake desserts, though she's rescued plenty of my other culinary endeavors. I'm getting better though, so sometime soon I'll be able to surprise Kakashi with a dish far more edible than charred fish.

It's just... not right now.

* * *

The Triplets and I make our way over to Training Ground Three after our morning run around the village, after we had politely enquired at the mission desk about where Training Ground Three actually is. Team Ensui's meeting spot hadn't been anywhere near Team Seven's training ground.

It's on the east side of the village, over a red bridge, farther away from the center of the city, and much quieter than my genin training ground.

Kakashi is nowhere to be found when we get there, and the Triplets sniff at the air appreciatively.

"It's nice here." Ni flops down at the base of a tree. "There are squirrels."

"Aren't you going to chase them?" San asks as he prods Ni with a paw. "You always chase the squirrels at home."

"We ran too much today." Ni replies, and turns his head away from San's prodding. "We can rest now."

Ichi moves forward, heading away from the clearing and deeper into the forest. "He wants us to find him."

I blink at him. "Who wants us to find him?"

Ichi huffs. "The Irritating Packmate." So Kakashi's been upgraded from Irritant to Irritating Packmate.

I suppose it's an improvement. Not much of an improvement, but still, an improvement. And Ichi seems to call him this is good fun more than real irritation.

"Why does he want us to play hide and seek with him?" I'm a bit at a loss as to how Ichi saw that Kakashi wasn't here, and declared that the only way we'd be able to do much of anything is play hide and seek.

Kakashi might be a troll, but for most interactions, either he finds me, or I find his apartment. He hasn't made me locate him before.

"It's not playing hide and seek." San nudges my left hand. "It's a play hunt."

Ni nudges my right. "It's what packmates do. Ones that like to play anyway." Well...that would explain why Kakashi delighted in making Team Seven look for him. They were, in the other world that's gone up in smoke, his only remaining pack.

"Alright then, guys." I pull chakra to my nose and ears. "Let's hunt him." The forest spreads out around me, and I shift onto all fours to run with the Triplets.

We search for him, for the smell of woodsmoke smothered under blood and metal, minds connected, and range ever expanding as our senses bounce back and forth between our minds so quickly that it's one forest from four perspectives at once.

And we are running, loam under our feet, the wind in our fur, muscles bunching and stretching, strides longer with each leap.

 _There._

 _Found you._

I pull my chakra back and look around. There is a tree, and then several other trees. He's not on the ground with us, but we had found him earlier. I look up.

"Good morning." Kakashi drops out of the tree in front of me with a smile so big it might as well be genuine. "You're late."

"You told me we were meeting at Training Ground Three." I look around. "We're nearly back at Training Ground Eight now." This is my favorite childhood training ground, even though I haven't been here for a while. "And I should be telling you that you're late, because it's been half an hour."

He shrugs. "I would have moseyed over after you gave up." He freezes, as if recognizing his words. "How did you find me?" But he's unfrozen again.

I fall in step beside him as we head back toward Training Ground Three. "I had the Triplets with me today. My nose is better with them." His trace had been faint even then, but the Triplets and I are a pack all to unto ourselves when we shift completely.

"Yeah!" Nii bounces forward, nosing Kakashi's hands in case he happens to have dog treats or food. "We're really connected now!"

Ichi slams into his stomach, and they have a short scuffle. "The treats are mine because I'm the oldest."

San's ears flatten. "Not fair, Ichi. We're all the same age."

"That's what triplets means." Ni grins, tongue lolling from his mouth. "So no you don't get them all."

Kakashi sighs, and tosses a few dog treats into the air, and they are all quite appeased.

I've gotten slightly better at holding the shift in the past week. Kaa-san tells me it's a sign of growing up. Developing into my potential, she calls it. The Inuzuka offensive techniques are hard, but they don't require the same amount of mental focus as some of the softer tracking techniques and tricks.

Kaa-san had made special jonin for not only for the tracking skills that come naturally with being an Inuzuka, but also how long she can hold her bond with Kuromaru, how that turns her more deadly and focused during the hunt.

"Maa." He laces his hands behind his head as we walk through the forest. "You're forgiven for nearly killing yourself, and today we can learn how to nearly kill other people."

He sounds like he actually looks forward to this. But then again, he is Kakashi. Troll is his nature.

"What other people?" I ask him in deadpan. "There are only two people in this entire clearing." Unspoken goes the thought that I'd hardly kill _him._ Hardly be able to either. _I'll never be good enough to end him. Honestly._

 _It's like he delights in saying things that irritate other people...just like a troll._

"Besides." I muse. "Don't we want to kill our opponents a hundred percent instead of just nearly kill them?" Dead enemies are no longer enemies after all.

He eye smiles at me. "Well, it would be no fun if they were permanently dead!" He singsongs, in that absent way of his and pats me on the head like I'm a puppy he's housetraining. "I'm loaning you these scrolls." He tosses two at me without the slightest hesitation or concern. Or really, warning either.

I catch them. "When should I return these to you?" He'd said he was loaning, but he didn't say how long.

He seems to pause and consider it. "Keep them." I blink, but he shrugs. "I don't need them anymore anyway." And then he changes the topic so quickly that I am stuck with the niggling thought that these are more important to him than he lets on. "And now," he announces, a hand on his hip, and the other waving a disapproving finger in my direction. "We will learn why you were being phenomenally stupid."

I fight the urge to groan and wipe beads of sweat from my forehead. Must he put it like _that?_

"Yes." And he invades my personal space until we are nose to nose...or well, nose to mask. "I do have to put it like that otherwise. you. don't. learn."

I'd said that out loud. Oh how unfortunate. "I will try," I tell him, and attempt to regain some personal space. The way he's looming over me is really...problematic. "But personal space, Kakashi."

He stops looming and sits on the ground across from me. Still, he seems to be reaching for some kind of zen meditative state, so I let him be. Clearly imparting the secrets of Raiton Jutsu must be some sort of Yoda-esque activity. _Teach you I will. Master Raiton Jutsus you shall. Or displeased I will be._

It almost makes me giggle, but he glares at me until I too sit cross-legged across from him even if I don't bother with attempting a lotus position. We sit there for several long moments.

I've just started becoming uncomfortable, because those scrolls are right _there,_ in my pouch, when Kakashi seems to have reached his zen moment. "What is chakra?"

I blink at him. "Chakra is an energy that is important to sustaining life and manipulating elements."

He blinks at me. "Yes." And then he's back to glaring at me. "Which is why getting chakra burns from your own chakra is _stupid._ "

Right. Chakra converted into elemental natures are _not_ lightning, or fire, or earth, or water, or wind, except...they also are. It's a confusing dichotomy, but I've already noted the difference

"You need to believe that you can't get hurt from your own chakra." He tells me, abandoning all parts of the lotus formation. "Why doesn't anyone get burned from practicing Katon Jutsu?"

"Because..." I trail off. Why doesn't Itachi get burned when practicing Katon Jutsu? "Um?"

Kakashi's eye smile looks about 75% plastic. "Because chakra doesn't work like that Hana-chan!"

"But why? If I can kill other people with it, why shouldn't it burn me?" Chakra is not magic. The Academy had made that perfectly clear. Chakra is not ninja magic. It obeys rules. It is an energy. Thus, it should burn me just like it burns everything else.

Kakashi throws up his hands. "Because." He sighs. "Your chakra is _yours._ "

I frown at him. "But why does that matter?" It doesn't make _sense._ Just because my chakra belongs to me doesn't mean that it can't hurt me once I've started using it outside of my body in highly volatile forms.

"Just read the scrolls." He looks helplessly up at the sky. "Oh look. I'm late for a meeting with Hokage-sama."

I get the feeling that he's frustrated with me, since I doubt he's late for something _that_ important. Kakashi's not late to things that are important to him. It's the other stuff that falls by the wayside.

At least, he's not late normally, but he did mention it... "Then you might want to go...The Hokage is important, isn't he?"

Kakashi eye smiles and pats me on the head with a hand rather absently. "Of course!" He chirps, but he makes no move to leave.

"I'm just going to read these now?" I pull out the first scroll.

He's gone before I can even untie the bow of the fading ribbon. I blink. "Okay?" He hadn't been so awkward before I attempted to read anything. _But he was acting really strange about these before too._ These scrolls are _old._ The silk is yellowing; the ribbons are fading, and the scent of mildew and age clings to them like ivy vines.

 _Kakashi didn't write these. They're too old for that._ I unroll them gently, taking care to not tear the silk. _The handwriting on this is far too neat as well. Kakashi writes in chicken scratch._ If Chichi writes in calligraphy, then the writer of these scrolls writes in typeset.

"I know it's going to be many years before you read this, but I'm just so excited and far too impatient to get started right now. Your mother thinks I'm crazy, but I can feel how good you're going to be in my bones. And I can't stop myself. I need to write these lessons for you, in the case that I have to leave you behind. Now, forgive your father's rambling when you read this years into the future, Kakashi-kun, but..."

 _Oh._ I think, a dull roaring in my ears. _That's who it was._ Hatake Sakumo, perfectly preserved in writing. _What did Kakashi feel when he went to look for these? Where did he have to go to find them?_ He doesn't keep these sorts of personal effects in his sparse apartment.

The past is something that Kakashi persistently, and consistently and determinedly _denies._ He is always running.

And these two scrolls in my hands tell me that he's stopped. Hatake Kakashi, eternally late and eternally avoidant-has stopped running.

I do not know what this really means, but noon that day in late July, I taste change in the wind.

He has offered me a gift more precious than gold or power. He has offered me a piece of his past. He has told me that he is done with running, that he wants to heal.

I unroll the scroll further, and begin to read in earnest.

* * *

That last Sunday of July, I go to the Council Meeting with Kaa-san. The tax code seems to have been worked out, or at least, we've gotten so tired about debating the tax code that there is no use in beating a dead horse.

Konoha is still a solvent entity even when it isn't exactly profitable for everyone.

Instead, this time, we're talking about hosting the Chunin Exams in August, and the various security details that have to be made, the number of participants, the organization, which the Hokage's Council seems to need to brief various chunin leadership positions about.

It's about as interesting as tax codes, because it's not about the tests, it's about how to manage the tests. _I wonder if the two chunin exams I went to went through this about of deliberation?_ I don't want to imagine that the horrible first and third exams in Iwa were as meticulously beaten to death as this upcoming exams. It only means that the violence and trauma we faced was systemic.

I'm still thinking about it when I am addressed directly.

"Now." The Sandaime pushes his chair back from the table. "Inuzuka-chan, it's been a late night." He looks over at me from under the brim of his hat.

I am being dismissed. _What does he want to talk about that I can't be included in?_ But of course, I cannot simply _ask_ him. It would be impossible, and I am not suicidal.

"It is." I agree and rise. "Have a good night, Hokage-sama." I'm still thinking about the chunin exams as I leave the room. Maybe I walk a little too slow.

 _So there are currently about 500 foreign shinobi expected to show up for the Chunin Exams. That includes the jonin sensei and the students, who don't always come in teams of three, especially those from the smaller nations. That means that we would have to room th-_

"That idea is preposterous." That sounds like...Shikaku-san. "There is no possible way that-"

I don't mean to do it, but I am just outside still, and it is so very tempting.

I push chakra to my ears, as quickly as I can manage it while still moving forward at a snail's pace. "As Fugaku suspects...foreign shinobi from...kidnapping." The Sandaime's response is much less distinct that Shikaku-san's earlier words.

 _Kidnapping? What is-oh wait. Foreign Shinobi. Chichi. And the Councilors were so weird about this earlier. It's about the suspect drug house._

 _But who would they want to kidnap? Why would the Sandaime not want me to hear about this?_

"...should have been...willing to adopt..." It might be...Chouza-san? Or Hiashi-san, I am unsure. I do not know either man particularly well. It is definitively not Chichi, or Shikaku-san, and Kaa-san still hasn't said a word.

"...Should have been under my care, Mikoto-" That is Chichi, who seems to have been cut off. Still, his words are loud enough that I hear them most clearly.

"Absolutely not." And that is Elder Homura. Elder Utatane agrees not a beat later. The room comes into a sharp focus, as I find the right amount of chakra to catch everything from my position down the hall. It takes more and more chakra as I keep walking further and further away. I want to stop, but I really shouldn't.

"Why-" Chichi should know exactly why, but that doesn't mean that he has to be reasonable about it.

"Because." And this is Shishou, measured and calm. "You are not a blood relation."

"According to precedence," Kaa-san says, very soft and low and somehow, I hear her more clearly than anyone else in the room. "Fugaku does have the best claim. His wife is the boy's godmother."

I am confronted with the idea that for all that Kaa-san puts on a good pretense at being brash and unthinking in public, she rarely speaks at Council Meetings, not because she doesn't know what's going on which ought to be the general consensus, but because she doesn't find it necessary. Our position in Konoha needs no one person to fight for it, the Inuzuka loyalty is famous, but equally well regarded are our goodwill and generosity.

But now she's stepped in.

"Enough." The Sandaime sounds so very tired of this, as if this dance has played out a million times before. For all that I know, it has. "Tsume, you've never expressed a preference before on the subject, but this is not up for negotiation. My decisions are..." And the conversation cuts out again as I descend the stairs with shaking legs.

They are talking about a child. An orphan clearly, seeing as adoption has been mentioned. A child that Kumo wanted to kidnap. A child that I am not supposed to know about.

Kaa-san's stepped in, and I do not know- _Our clan does have the right to speak of the claim, seeing as our relationship with the Uchiha is probably best of all of Konoha's clans, but why at this moment, why now? Why do it now? What-_

I pause for a moment, outside the tower. I don't need to know. I keep walking.

This isn't a fight I need to fight. I have other things to worry about. Naruto turned out just fine. There's no reason to assume that an incident like this didn't happen before, and just wasn't-wasn't included.

And if they are talking about it, it couldn't have been...deadly, or crippling or even particularly traumatic for Naruto.

I should forget about this as soon as possible.

The Sandaime had sent me from the room because everything pertaining to Naruto is an S-Rank secret that a ten-year-old chunin has no business knowing. How unfortunate that I already know it.

"Hana!" It's Kaa-san who's come up from behind me. We are three blocks away from the Tower. "I've asked you to wait for me twice already."

I blink at her. "You have?"

"Yes." She ruffles my hair and slings an arm over my shoulder. "But I guess you were distracted. The Chunin exams don't spark good memories do they?"

I smile and hope that it's enough. "They really don't." Not that the Chunin Exams are the reason I've been distracted, but I have to put that reason away. I can't, can't touch it right now.

But all it tastes like is cowardice.

* * *

"So I've got the permits and everything, and I've started to contact builders." Kasuga's really in his element at our next YRC meeting as he directs, and organizes the proceedings. "And we need some sort of central building, but that's happening soon." He waves a hand at a young man holding a clipboard off to the side. "Souta, report on consensus inside the Ninth District."

Souta-san steps forward and clears his throat slightly nervously, glancing first at the Triplets, and then at me. "Well, to begin, most people rated food as a priority before anything else." He flips through several sheets of paper. "Many people refused to be interviewed. We suspect it is because they feared retribution from the brothel owners and others."

"That's a problem." It's not something that I'd thought about before, that the power structure already present in the district would ensure that most people refuse to rock the boat.

"Ah, yes, Taicho. But we did get some people to interview with us." Souta drops several sheets of paper and quickly bends to retrieve them.

One of the sheets lands near my foot, and I pass it back to them. "You've made really detailed notes." I smile, almost unconsciously. "I was just thinking about how soon we could make it so that people can come to us for their problems."

"O-oh I see." He hurriedly rearranges his papers. "But yes, there is interest, especially among the younger persons inside the district to answer our questions, and participate in our proposed programs such as schools and job training."

"That's good." I am about to make a note of it, but Kasuga passes me a sheet with all the numbers and details already laid out, in sharp angular script.

"That's the summary of everything, Taicho."

I nod at him, and smile gratefully. Sometimes, I feel like even though I'm the one who had the idea, Kasuga's really the best person to actually organize everything. He seems to be managing well despite being only fifteen years old and a genin.

Kasuga is meticulous, organized, and able to motivate people, by underhand means or otherwise. He just seems to lack the motivation to start such projects on his own.

"And since we're on the subject of food, Masato's reached out to merchants across fire country, on how fast they can get the food shipments in, depending on how much we pay them." Kasuga hands me another sheet of paper.

"The general idea is that they'll come faster if we pay them more, but to do that we have to find some sort of actual income." Saito Ruri leans in and offers me another sheet of paper. "And to do that we have to somehow build an economy that doesn't depend on selling bodies, or we're going to run out of money very quickly."

I glance down at the sheet of paper, and the numbers scrawled across it. "No, a year of just funding food expenditures won't cut it." I frown, and consider it. "We need to find something that makes money and hires people inside the district with the skills they have right now, so we transition away from the current economic model."

The thing is, I have no idea what that sort of thing might be. Economic theory was something I'd learned the basics of in high school an age and a half ago, and that didn't go into the details of building entire economies from scratch.

"On it, Taicho." Kasuga makes a note of it on his pad. "I'm not sure, I might have to talk to Junko-baasan, since..." He trails off. "Work." He grumbles rather crossly. "Why do I make so much work for myself?"

 _Why do you?_ I do want to know what it is that motivates him so badly. He's friends with Ito Fujio which gives it a personal angle, but Kasuga's work ethic could rival Sensei's at the moment.

Ito smacks him over the head with another legal pad. "Oh, shut up Fukutaicho, it's not like you're dying or anything. You'll manage to make Taicho happy."

"Maybe." Saito Tamaki leans forward, over the numbers, ignoring Kasuga and Ito who are now currently squabbling with each other. "If we invest in something, like buying forest land from the city, and then we pay people to cut trees on it and then build houses from those trees, and then they pay us for the food..." He looks around. "Would that work?"

"It would involve an initial investment to buy the land, but then we wouldn't be paying the merchants anymore, they'd be drawn in by the money they could earn..." Masato brushes his bangs back from his head. "It might work as a model."

"So I should see if there's any forest land for sale that we could make an investment on." Kasuga stops arguing good-naturedly with Ito for a moment to make a note of it. "And I suppose any other investments inside Konoha and the Ninth District would work too, since we can hire people to build their own homes, and that would be motivation to work. So we can hire only foremen or something, which would reduce costs..."

For the most part, they seem to be able to run themselves with me. It's just...I should stick this out to the end. I started this endeavor. I need to keep going. Besides, they wouldn't be able to cash any of the banknotes to fund anything without my signature.

"Alright everyone." I make a small pile of the papers that I have to read before our next meeting, which would be two days after Bon. _This will be a lot of late nights then._ I am beginning to understand why Chichi lives on coffee. "If anyone can think of more investments and jobs that we could potentially create, write it down and do a bit of research into whether or not it is a viable option for our next meeting." I stand. "And Kasuga and I will scout out a building that we can buy, or at least an office area for our new headquarters before that."

We can't possibly keep meeting in Kiba's favorite yakitori place. For one, it's a yakitori place, for another, well, it's a restaurant and we won't all fit if we have full attendance, which at the moment, we really don't. Besides, headquarters seem a little more official than simply meet at the yakitori place.

There's a chorus of "Yes, Taicho" and "Have a good day." as Kasuga and I leave to find a building to buy.

"How much do you have in personal funds?" Kasuga asks as we duck out of the restaurant. "Because we can't spend too much money on these sorts of things."

I consider it. "I have roughly twelve thousand ryo." I have all the savings I've accrued through various D and C-rank missions. Border patrol and gate duty pay are both a flat rate, and meeting Tobi had given me special earnings. I have a monthly paycheck from the MPF, which isn't anywhere near luxurious, but it's a livable wage, and I don't have to live on it. Kaa-san still pays my clan tax, and the Clan has a mutual fund to pay for hospital bills.

Most of my earnings in the past three and a half years has been sitting in a bank.

"And I have another seventeen thousand including my inheritance. It's quickly about to become only nine thousand though." He runs a hand through his hair and frowns. "That's not enough to flat out buy a house. We'll have to get a loan."

"It doesn't need to be an expensive house." I offer. I really don't know what the current housing market is like in Konoha in the slightest.

"I should have remembered that you don't have absolute mountains in savings yet." Kasuga grumbles as we continue down the street. "And that of course, we don't have enough to straight up buy a house."

"What if we get a loan, buy an office building, and then rent out the extra office space until we pay off the loan?" Right now, we just need the space, but still renting seems like a less...happy alternative. Kasuga and I are both leaning towards permanent space.

"That could work." And he smiles. "Not to worry Taicho. I'll make it work."

I stick my tongue out at him. "I know you will, motivated Nara that you are." Still, I have to ask. "Will you ever just call me Hana?" I do want him to, if only because he's infecting everyone else at the YRC to call me Taicho, and he is completely unrepentant about it.

He smirks. "Never, Taicho."

And it seems I have to surrender. He's determined to not give in.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so it goes. Hana learns more, and does more, and still misses some points because at this point, it's very much her real life.

This should be the second to last chapter of this Arc, if all goes well. And it is roughly 8500 words, so quite a lot. As everyone must have noticed, my update speed is slowing down as I head into the harder semester of the school year and as each arc becomes more complicated, but rest assured. Updates are still coming, I'm just swamped at the moment. (Summer or a break should be enough to pick things back up.)

(Also, the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Everyone I know is in shock. So happy Super Bowl Present for all those Eagles fans out there.)

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed! I can't believe it. Over nine hundred reviews. Thank you so much everyone.

And everyone who favorited and followed. You make my day.

~Tavina.


	72. Entanglements Arc: Eight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

The day of the Uchiha Funeral is clear and muggy, without a single cloud in the sky. It is a mockery somehow, that seemingly all funerals in Konoha are held on sunny days. I make my morning run in the dark, loping through Konoha with the Triplets, wishing desperately for headphones or something to block out the noise in my mind.

Alas, I have nothing, nothing except my chakra sense which tells me that the city is in the throes of sleep, and the Triplets who are ceaseless and untiring as we bound forward, far faster than we could before. Evenings are reserved for nightstick training, with or without Chichi, but mornings are runs with the Triplets. Five years of running has made us lean and sure footed.

We've bonded well, though Kaa-san still wants to hold back on tracker training. Sometimes, I think she doesn't want me to start because she likes where I am now in the police force, and she knows I have no ambitions to join the hunter-nin squad in ANBU.

My foot catches on a loose stone in the paved street, and I stumble forward, breaking our stride.

"Okay, Hana?" Ni asks, nudging me with a cold nose from behind.

"I'm good." I'd spent all night reading Hatake Sakumo's scroll. I'd rubbed the sleep from my eyes and continued on. It had been both painful and fascinating, filled with digressions into future dreams, but also full of knowledge and wisdom. It's hard to believe that he's gone when he sounds so real still.

No wonder Kakashi doesn't keep them in his apartment.

As it is, I'll check with him before I try another Raiton Jutsu. _Coating my own hands with my chakra before I do anything should protect myself from it, at least, that's what I got..._

We continue on.

When I turn back into the district, onto one of the spokes on the wheel, many of my cousins are already awake, going about their day. I wave to them as I pass.

Ichi growls a challenge, and we, as his siblings, we answer. We surge forward, determined to beat him. I clatter onto the porch first, pausing there for a moment to catch my breath, the rest of them on my heels, barking wildly.

"Are you in the mood for breakfast?" Kaa-san's sitting on a chair in the shadows, Kuromaru at her feet.

I consider it for a moment, shaking the front of my sweat-soaked shirt back and forth. Normally, I would be hungry by now, but not today. It doesn't feel right today. "It's alright." I amble past to change out of my workout clothes. "I need to shower and change anyway."

Kaa-san hums wordlessly in agreement and waves me off with a bare movement of her hand. Her dark eyes are still on the road as if she's waiting for someone to walk down it, but there's no one coming today and she knows it.

The person she's waiting for isn't coming back. Still, she watches anyway, because the heart has convictions that the mind can't erase.

I'm halfway down the hallway before I realise she's foregone her mascara and eyeliner today. Her eyes seem less sharp without makeup. She looks younger without it. _Kaa-san wasn't there when I went out, but that doesn't mean she wasn't awake then. She's waiting for us to get ready. I best get moving._ I've seen Kaa-san wear formal clothing precious few times. She doesn't like the constricting nature of traditional garb.

My own memories of Tou-san's funeral are...shaky. The days before and after blur together, and I don't even know what I wore. It was...black, I'm sure, but no one there bothered me about it so it couldn't possibly have been anything inappropriate.

I don't have a black kimono that fits a five year old. I don't know if Kaa-san put it away, got rid of it, or if it had never existed at all. I only remember that the sun was merciless and that there were far too many condolences and by the end, they wore down even the steely line of Kaa-san's shoulders.

The last time Kaa-san had worn formal clothing was during my Ascension, but her tomesode had been trimmed with deep red. She'd worn makeup then, swooping cat's eyes done in a bright bloody red.

This time, she's wearing full black and her entire being seems to have a somber but resigned aura about it.

I wake Kiba before the dawn, my hair still dripping water down my back. It'll dry soon enough in the sun. We still have an hour, but he needs to be properly awake for the ceremony. It's not enough for him to have his eyes open. He sits up groggily, rubbing his eyes. "'S time yet, Neechan?"

I look at him in his leaf green pyjamas covered with bouncy ball print, and Akamaru curled up next to him on a pillow and wish I didn't have to say it. "Yeah, Kiba-chan. It's time."

He's barely five years old. He shouldn't have to know yet, that all people die and that shinobi die younger than most. It's only our world that gives us grief.

And yeah, we're better off than most, but I hate it all the same. I hate how the world will take his bright smiles and turn them fanged and sharp, how he'll be looking over his shoulder for death rounding the corner, a figure he can't outrun. I hate how many funerals he'll be attending in the future.

There'll be other people he loves and loses. It isn't fair.

This is just the first.

He climbs out of bed, still rubbing his eyes, and I help him step into his small hakama and tie it up in the back. He puts on the black haori himself. "We going soon?" He yawns openly, not bothering to cover his mouth. His red fangs stretch and shift a little. We don't wear our clan crest on our clothes, not even our most formal clothing. We wear them on our faces. It is our right.

"Un." I straighten his collar, and he does his best to grin at me, little fangs sharp. It doesn't quite work. I can see the slumped line of his shoulders, but he's doing his best to be brave.

"Where's Kaa-san?"

I brush his hair as he shakes Akamaru awake. "She's waiting for us on the porch." This isn't a clan affair, not really. The invitation arrived only for Kaa-san, Kiba and me, but I don't think Chichi and the Uchihas would mind if our partners came with us. Perhaps it was assumed that they would come.

He nods. "'M, help Neechan too." He stands on the bed and starts twisting up my hair. I offer him my wolf hairpins. He's gotten better at working with long hair. I spare a brief moment to wonder where he'd been practicing, but in the end, that matters less than the thought that he's keeping his mind off of the day ahead by distracting his hands.

He slides the pins in, with a little bit of a gasp, and I can already feel that they're crooked. He'd been just a little distracted by the silver worked in the tips of the fangs. It doesn't matter though. He's been improving and that's what matters. "Neechan's pretty." He mumbles as he climbs off of the bed.

That's our spirit, I suppose. We find pride and possibility to move on, amidst adversity. Our grief threatens to wear us down, but still we rise.

"And you're handsome." I ruffle his hair. He yelps in protest and runs a hand through it again to flatten it and then sets Akamaru on his head.

The Triplets rise from the rug, completely silent. They've gotten their energy out earlier during the run. Now, it's time to be serious.

All six of us troop out into the hallway in a crowd. Kiba slides his hand into mine. I squeeze it tightly, and all of us, but Kiba and I most of all, go out to face the day.

We stand tall together, shoulders through back, little soldiers made of new tin, yet unbroken by the world.

And so we are, in that quiet moment, siblings.

* * *

Kaa-san walks before us, Kuromaru at her side as we make out way out of the district. Her shoulders are straight, her head held high. As we wind our way through the dusty streets, Kiba drags his feet just a little.

I know he doesn't really want to go and see who it is that has died-he knows so many of the Uchihas that it is not outside the realm of possibility that he'd known Uchiha Yashiro quite well-but he's also got too much Inuzuka pride to run away or stumble even though he is tired.

His eyes droop. Akamaru looks wilted atop his head, and I want to reach out and pat him, but the comfort might be worse than the solidarity we have right now.

We are afforded more than a few glances as we pass, though no one whispers or says a thing during our long walk down to the Uchiha District.

 _Kaa-san's making a political statement with this._ I realise as the crowd parts for our party of eight. This is a sentiment more broad than just our personal condolences. She'd not chosen to take to the roofs. She'd chosen the walk, tall and proud through the streets, a clan head and her children making the trip alone in austerity. She'd spoken in Chichi's favor before the Hokage's Council.

While the civilians might read our small party differently, every Clan Head must know that something has shifted, something's changed. It's the smallest parties that speak the loudest. Silence speaks louder than voice sometimes. We've always been an affable clan, not fond of taking sides though we always speak our mind.

There's a shift in the air.

Kaa-san's mind is made up. She strides forward confidently into the Uchiha district, through the crowd of gathering mourners up to Chichi's side, Kiba and I trailing in her wake. We are the only non Uchiha at the funeral.

"Fugaku." She nods sharply at Chichi, and then turns to Mikoto-san. "Mikoto."

Ita-kun's holding Sasuke's hand right behind them. Chichi looks haggard. Uchiha Yashiro had been young. Unmarried. His mother's here, one of these silent, pale women with tired eyes, but I don't know him well enough to tell who she is.

There's a priest waiting to start the ceremony, formally. The wake had been the night before, but Kaa-san hadn't wanted to completely tire Kiba out so we didn't attend the wake.

I'm not sure that he would have been able to sit still for an entire night anyway.

"Tsume." Mikoto-san bows. Chichi nods but says nothing.

The casket is open atop a large metal shield. Uchiha Yashiro's been cleaned up, but still, it's not enough. It's very clear that he died a violent death.

"Yashi?" Kiba lets go of my hand and takes a stumbling step forward. "Yashi!"

I dive forward to take hold of his hand once more, but he's already falling apart. "Yashi!" He's struggling to get forward without a clear purpose, and he's getting hard to hold. "Wake up! Wake up. We still got, got, got things t-to do." He's doing his best to hold back the tears, but it's not working. "There's cats 'member? Cats?"

Uchiha Yashiro is motionless as all corpses are. Akamaru throws back his head and howls. The Triplets and Kuromaru surge forward to pile us in furry bodies, walling us in so that our words are private.

"Kiba-chan." I whisper in his ear. My heart aches. I don't want to say what I have to say. "Kiba-chan, not now." It would be alright for him to be so distraught back at home. No one would judge him there, but the Uchiha are exponentially more strict about formal functions than we are and there's more politics than I'm comfortable at play in this situation. The Clans are watching.

My brother's grief shouldn't be just another cog in the wheel, but I don't know how to turn the eyes away. It shouldn't be subject to judgement, poked and prodded until it becomes a slab of meat on the cutting board, but word will get out. I have no idea how shinobi, high ranking and not, skilled and not, will think of him years from now. A shinobi should not cry.

Kiba's more than rules, but they'd still judge him and find him _weak_ even when he's not because he's not following the rules.

Kaa-san sweeps both Kiba and Akamaru up into her arms without a word. He buries his face in the crook of her neck and bawls, back heaving. I am helpless to comfort him. There's no one who can soothe all the hurt he's been dealt today. It tastes like too much salt, bitter and sickening to my tongue.

And now I want to cry, but I haven't any tears left to shed. I stand, back ramrod straight, and face ahead, though I'm sure I shake like a leaf in the wind. I have to be stronger than this.

Sasuke flinches, and Ita-kun squeezes his hand. Our eyes meet across the gap between us, and there's an understanding of sorts. We've both seen death before. We've felt it, but that does not mean that it does not rub us raw.

Kaa-san doesn't apologize, just looks at the man in the coffin for a long moment and stares evenly back at the congregation. "Our regrets." She shifts Kiba so that he is more firmly held in her grip and checks to make sure that Akamaru is still clinging firmly to my brother's head. "His loss means much to us." Her words are sincere, quiet and carefully measured.

Kaa-san rarely if ever weighs her words before they snap across her tongue. She's weighing them now.

Mikoto-san takes a step forward, a hand raised to comfort my little brother, but Kaa-san shakes her head. Mikoto-san nods once, and retreats.

A woman comes forward, her eyes shadowed and tired. "Was my son your friend, Inuzuka-kun?" She asks.

She must be Uchiha Yashiro's mother then. My heart breaks for her as well. She did not ask for this, didn't ask for others to intentionally, but with no ill-will turn her son's funeral into a political battleground. It's happened anyway.

The Clans are watching.

"Is my friend." Kiba peels himself away from Kaa-san and wriggles to be let down. He rubs his eyes, but he's standing on his own two feet, when he looks up at her. "Yashi's my friend." He says, but it's without his normal confidence. He hugs Akamaru tighter. "'N I'm Kiba, not Inuzuka-kun." He looks close to tears, but he wipes them away roughly with the back of a small hand. "And I'm never forgetting." He smiles, brighter than the sun through his tear-stained face. "'Cause that's pack."

I don't know that I've ever been more proud. No accomplishment of mine can turn weakness into strength without a single thought in the space of a few words. Kiba does it easily speaking from the heart.

He comes to stand beside me and takes my hand again as the priest begins to read the rites, voice climbing ever higher.

I squeeze his hand. He squeezes back.

Kiba-chan's eyes are haunted and sad, and Akamaru whimpers. The Uchiha step forward one by one as they are called to make the hand signs for a Katon Jutsu that I've never seen before. This is a slow flame, nothing like battle. For the Uchiha, fire isn't only a weapon. It is sacred.

Tongues of flames bloom over Uchiha Yashiro's earthly shell in shapes and forms that no Uchiha would ever use for battle. His mother's is a shell, shifting into a baby's rattle. The young man who steps forward when his best friend is called sends him a pair of braced throwing stars and a sake cup.

Ita-kun pauses for a moment, glancing at Kiba who is still watching the fire display intently and blows a fiery cat into the flames. It prances through gracefully and settles at the feet of the deceased, melting into the communal flames. I have never been more thankful for Ita-kun's kind heart. He'd only heard Kiba-chan mention cats not minutes ago.

Mikoto-san sends him twenty candles, one for each year of his life. They light up the deceased's coffin and the wood melts into ash in the space of moments.

Chichi steps forward last, and sucks in a long breath. He doesn't add to the flames. Instead, he shapes them into something new. The fire bends and shifts into a phoenix rising from the ash. It holds its shape for far longer than all the others. It is beautiful.

Kiba sniffs, but he doesn't shed another tear. Kaa-san stands tall.

I wonder how many funerals Chichi's seen as clan head, to so easily make chakra shift fire into phoenix for five full minutes. It is too depressing a thought to wonder.

The first phoenix Chichi would have had to light alone was most likely his own father. I shake the thought away. Now is not the time to think of it.

The phoenix melts into smoke, and leaves only ash and bone behind. Uchiha Yashiro may pass to the other side peacefully now. He's been sent off by the flames, surrounded by family. It's more than what many get. Still, it tastes like heartache to my tongue.

He'd been twenty years old, unmarried, and evidently a friend of small boys. His mother looks as though she's aged several years in the past few days, and he'd been well loved in life if only judging by how many grief stricken people have come to send him off.

I don't belong here among this grieving multitude. I'm only his co-worker. I didn't know him, can't even really tell if I passed by him in the halls of the Station. Our first mission together had also been our last. _I have to know everyone better._

 _I can stand here and admire funeral customs all I want, but that changes nothing. I didn't know him, and now I never will._ That loss isn't as sharp, but it is a regret all the same.

The priest passes around pairs metal chopsticks.

The bone picking ceremony has begun.

* * *

The day after the funeral, Kasuga comes to call. He knocks on my door early in the morning, bursting with nervous energy, clutching his clipboard. "Taicho, we've got a situation." He announces with zero fanfare as soon as I open the door.

I'm supposed to be meeting with Shishou in another half hour, but this looks urgent. "What's the problem?" I step aside to let him in. It would be rude to expect him to stand on the doorstep.

"The Civilian Council is blocking the food shipments I've organized." He sits down at the kitchen table, still keyed up and jittery. His hands fidget with his shirt cuffs. His feet tap on the floor. It looks like he's overdosed on coffee, especially since there are dark circles under his eyes, but he sounds as chipper as ever.

He pulls out a rather ostentatious piece of heavy paper covered with flowy pompous script and flicks it in my direction.

I scan it quickly while sitting on the kitchen table in my shorts and mesh shirt, swinging my feet back and forth like the ten year old that I am. The more I read, the less I have the self control to not crumple it up and rip it to shreds.

It's a lot of fancy words, but what it boils down to is a passingly polite fuck you from The Civilian Council. They refuse to listen, and that makes my blood simmer in all the wrong ways.

I have to be careful. I can't lose my self control and scream at them. It would be unprofessional.

"When did they send you this?" _I've learned to read political fuckery._ I realize with a jolt. _I've actually learned how to read political doublespeak after drafting too many diplomatic letters._ Shimura Danzo has successfully taught me while I wasn't looking.

The idea spooks me.

Kasuga grimaces. "Yesterday. You weren't home though."

I put the thoughts and anger away slowly. "We need to go see them." They don't have any grounds to deny Kasuga's reform plans. I want the brothels in Yoshiwara torn down, and I have to royal warrant to see it done. They might be nobility on the Civilian Council, hemming and hawing over change, but faced with a royal writ, they still have to fall in line. "When do you have time to go?"

I've been too hands off since I've gotten back from Kakunodate. I thought it would be fine, that they'd stop protesting. I thought wrong. They'll fight me every step of the way, it seems. It's time I reminded them that I am not only a chunin of Konoha. I am adopted sister of the Daimyo, and since I outrank them, they must listen to me.

That's how power works in the Civilian Court. If you have the ear of the Daimyo, then you have power. At the moment, I have power.

"If they continue holding up the merchant caravans, we won't be able to hire them again without paying much more than I negotiated this time, and we'll face significant losses." Kasuga runs a hand through his loose hair and snaps it back into a high tail. He's frustrated, hands playing against the back of his clipboard. "I can't believe that they'd-" He breaks off, coherent speech devolving into growls.

"Gather the core group of the YRC." This is an issue that needs to be dealt with immediately. "I'm going to dress for the occasion." I'll need to wear one of the furisodes that Yasino-nii commissioned for me the last time I was in the palace. I'll need my wolf hairpins and the scroll that marks my authority over Yoshiwara. Yasino-nii included a clause in his orders that demands the Civilian Council to listen to me.

"We'll get this done this morning then. There's no need to hold up the caravans any longer." Kasuga nods firmly to himself, as if to reassure himself that this is really happening. I can't imagine how he spent the night, with too much coffee and jittery hands, writing letters to the merchant caravan so that they don't just sell to someone else and go away, most likely.

This project is more than my own now, though I'm still holding the reins. It's his entire life. His time revolves around it.

Sometimes, I think it's what keeps him moving on, day after day after day, because it's certainly not the work he's been doing in the Genin Corps that makes him want to get up in the morning.

"Yes." I pat him on the shoulder, and the Triplets bump his waist as we pass on our way to our room. "We'll get this done. They'll never mess with us again."

They should remember that a princess lives in Konoha. Even if I'm adopted, I still hold a title.

"Hana, didn't you have to go to visit the shadow man today?" Ichi raises his head from his paws, as I search through my closet for the magnolia furisode. It should be the best one to remind them of who I am.

I freeze. I'm supposed to spend my morning in my apprenticeship with Elder Shimura. I am supposed to go, and that is non-negotiable, but if I wait until afternoon for Yoshiwara, the setbacks will be extreme. I will lose more than I gain.

"I'll need one of ou to deliver a message to Shishou." I pick up a pen and begin to draft a diplomatic letter to Shimura Danzo. It is stupid to blow him off, even to show him what I've learned about winning. He'd likely not take being secondary to my plans well at all.

I'll get burned for this later, but I need to pressure the Civilian Council right now. "I need to go out to threaten people who are rude." I sand the letter so that it dries.

Ni pads forward. "I'll take it for you, Hana." I fold the sheet of paper into thirds and tuck it into his pouch. Ni leaves the room, bouncing down the hallway, nails clicking on the hardwood.

"Then Ichi and San, you'll will come with me?" It's difficult to tie an obi when it's behind my back, but they help me hold the ends in place so I can figure out the knot by how it feels. It's nowhere as neat as when Yasino-nii ordered servants to do it for me, but that doesn't matter. I have black wolves snapping on my shoulders, silver wolves dripping chrysanthemums in my hair, magnolias embroidered across the bottom half of my kimono, and a royal writ.

I straighten my shoulders and lift my chin. I am a princess, and they must listen to me. _I sound like Yasino-nii the first time I met him._ I shake my head. _What was it that he said? 'I am the crown prince, and I am never wrong'_

Now is not the time to consider that. I run a hand through Ichi's fur and pat San on the head.

And then, with a firm nod, I fix my eyes on the street in front of me and gear up for a fight, but this time, not with kunai and jutsu. No, this time, it is with words and titles.

* * *

I meet Kasuga and several others outside the Civilian Council building. "I should just have to remind them that they no longer hold any power whatsoever in Yoshiwara." I scan their faces in various degrees of fatigue and coffee imbibement. Tamaki gives me a thumbs up. I nod at him and continue. "I just want you guys to explain any parts of the plan that I don't get to."

We head in. Kasuga takes my right, Tamaki my left, and Chisa my back. Ichi and San trot along after.

"Elder Nakamori." I stride into the chamber, no longer concerned about disrupting the proceedings. I might have to take into account their feelings on a good day, but they have to take into account my feelings as well, and they haven't done that.

I am displeased.

I am furious. They are using their power to actively repress the lives others now, instead of just passively holding onto their positions of power and benefiting from it.

"Heiress Inuzuka." He rises from his seat. "We are in the middle of proceedings." And indeed they are. There is an entire city watching.

I snap open my fan, and cover my fanged smile with it. "I was in the middle of proceedings as well, Elder Nakamori. Yet, it seems that your proceedings are determined to run at cross purposes to mine. Would you like to explain?"

"This is how it's been for decades and centuries on end, little lady." The woman in red leans forward, waving her paper fan back and forth. "Our new daimyo might be able to dress you up like a princess, but that doesn't change your origins."

Considering that legend has it that the Inuzuka descended from Okami himself, I don't have any inclination to change my origins.

The fur on Ichi's back rises, and there's a growl building in his throat. I set a hand on his head between his ears and look sharply at Kasuga. His grip on his clipboard is so tight that his fingers look like bones.

He's about to snap any moment now. I shake my head at him and take a single step forward.

"Am I a named princess, Madam?" It might be cruel to call her madam as if she is no better than a brothel madam, but she'd looked at me like something she's scraped from the bottom of her shoe first.

"Well," she says, a furious blush rising on her cheeks. "Perhaps you are, but you have to cause to be."

I smile. "Well, then. It doesn't matter what my origins are then? I outrank you, don't I?" I glance down at my uneven cuticles. There's scrape marks and calluses on my hands. Though I spend most of my days writing letters and sorting papers, I am still practicing, still active duty.

I might be turning into a desk ninja, but I still do keep up with my own fitness. "I do believe that a princess outranks a noblewoman." And of course, now I can return to the main problem at hand. "Why have you denied the merchants who are supposed to be in the ninth district right now entrance to Konoha?"

They haven't physically blockaded the street, but the merchant caravans that come into Konoha enter through one of two ways, the Civilian Council, which handles most of the commercial dealings, or by writ of the Hokage.

"We cannot lower Konoha's reputation." Elder Nakamori sighs. "The citizens of the ninth district don't have the ability to pay for the goods that these merchants have. It will be impossible for them to make a profit there."

"I submitted the correct paperwork." Kasuga snaps. His clipboard creaks. "I submitted the paperwork which tells you clearly that we'll be paying for it and exactly how." Any longer, and his clipboard will splinter to pieces in his hands.

It wouldn't be the best impression to make. Ichi bats his elbow with a paw, and he forces himself to relax.

"You have commissioned nearly half a million ryo in commerce in the next year." Another man cuts in. "Forgive me, but where are you getting that amount of money?"

"Isn't that not your business?" Tamaki narrows his eyes. "You heard Fukutaicho. We've got the funds to pay them, so Konoha's not going to be harmed. Let them in."

There's a tense pause in the chamber. I lift my chin and glare in the general direction of the Civilian Council. Every minute that passes makes me another minute closer to being late to my lessons with Shishou, which makes my eventual punishment even worse.

"We will vote then." Elder Nakamori decides. "All those in favor of letting the merchant caravans into the ninth district." And before my eyes, hands begin creeping up. There are fifty men and women on the Civilian Council, each with a stake in a different civilian clan in Kakunodate. Twenty hands up.

Another pause. I glare harder and cross my arms. Another five.

The chamber's split. Twenty-five to twenty-five.

At the very last moment, another hand joins the raised ones. Twenty-six to twenty-four.

"So ruled." Elder Nakamori turns to the scribe. "Let the merchant caravans into the ninth district."

Kasuga turns on his heel. "I'll be down in Yoshiwara to oversee the proceedings with the fifth squad, Taicho."

I nod as he passes. "You've got this." He takes Tamaki and Chisa with him.

That said, I have to get going as well. I shouldn't push Shishou any more than I have to.

"Hana-hime?" Elder Nakamori follows me into the antechamber. "A moment please?"

I turn around. _If he's going to say that this is some sort of concession that he's not willing to make again then I will throw something at him._

"Yes?" I am well aware that I don't look as put together as most princesses he's met. In fact, the first few times we've met, I wasn't even a princess.

 _To play the game, you have to look the part, Imouto._ Yasino-nii mentioned this before the audience before his chichi-ue so many months ago while he'd absently chosen kimono patterns for me.

"If you could give us prior notice of your arrival at our chamber, it would make proceedings run much more smoothly." _So we may debate among ourselves and align our opinions before we are put to an emergency vote._ He's watching me with an emotion that I cannot well place. "We want to be offer you the due respect that you deserve. Sayo spoke out of turn today." _We would like you to overlook the slight just this once._

"If you don't give me a reason to visit, I won't." _But if you do give me a reason to visit, expect it to be at my earliest convenience instead of yours._ I do my best to smile at him. "I mind less what you call me and more what we can accomplish together, Elder Nakamori." I turn away from him. "I want to make Konoha a better place."

"Change comes slowly when many must agree to it." He tells me with a sigh. "I hope my grandnephew can realise that soon as well."

He's related to Yasino-nii. I didn't realize how closely though. "Change comes slowly when those in power become more prone to comfort than they are to justice, Elder Nakamori." Still, maybe I'm being too harsh to him. He's only the bearer of bad news, not the singular actor who plays it out. "In many ways, the power structure is no different, shinobi or civilian."

The Hokage's Council doesn't want to let Chichi adopt a boy because they want to keep the upper hand in a power struggle between clan power and centralized power.

They might call it the good of the village, but that doesn't erase the people suffering underneath.

There are no good systems to hold power when those with the most weigh down those with the least.

Alas, I don't have time to ponder it.

There's a lot to do. I go.

There's no time to change.

* * *

I climb the stairs to Shishou's office three at a time. Difficult to do in my formal kimono, but I'm a bit past caring about the hemline rising.

I'm late by perhaps twenty minutes, which for Shishou's timetable, even if he has the whole morning clear for me, is closer to twenty years.

I knock on the door, twice, firmly because it does no good to show hesitation. I'm here to ask forgiveness, not permission. I might as well make use of confidence or else I'll be eaten alive.

"Come in." He doesn't sound angry.

He doesn't sound angry but that doesn't mean he isn't.

I take a deep breath, push open the door, and go in. "I'm sorry for being late, Shishou."

My note to him from earlier is on his table, not directly in front of him, but off to the side. He has other work in front of him.

Ni is asleep on his feet, but wakes up when I come in. "Hana!" He scrambles to his feet and makes his way over to push at me hands with his cold nose. "He was happy to see me! And he laughed at the note!"

 _He...laughed...at the note?_

 _Shimura Danzo...laughed?_

"Tell me," Shishou muses as he folds his hands together. "Was being late worth it?"

"I don't know the consequences yet." I tell him. "So I don't know if it was worth it."

"And what sort of consequence would you consider not worth it?" He stares at me evenly from across the table.

I lift my chin. "Something that hurts other people I care about besides me." I don't want to tell him that hurting Kiba would make it not worth it. I don't want to tell him that there are so many people I care about which would make it not worth it.

"So why did you do it?" He picks up my note. "If you didn't know whether or not it would be worth the consequences, wouldn't it be better to wait?"

"On one side there was uncertainty, and on the other was certainty." I tell him calmly. My palms are sweating. I am not calm. "I would lose the reform I want in Yoshiwara if I left it for later this afternoon. I've given up a lot for that already." Yasino-nii crowned me a princess and believed in my reforms, but only because I'd proven to him that I could do it. "On the other hand, I have no idea what sort of consequence you'd met out for being twenty minutes late to my lessons. Chichi normally has me sort out another filing cabinet."

The words just...tumble out.

"You wanted to win what you'd already started." Shishou stands and reaches for his cane. "Goals begun are not easily cast aside for you."

I consider it. "Not if I've already given up something else for them, no."

He makes for the door and beckons me to follow him. "We will go and see what you've won before I decide what consequence you'll suffer." He looks back at me and smiles.

Perhaps it is supposed to look kind.

It makes chills go down my spine all the same. _I knew that he wasn't about to let it go even if I was less than ten minutes late. Why did I forget how dangerous he is? Why didn't I remember when I had to make a choice?_

 _Could I have made a different choice though? Could I have let Yoshiwara go to please him momentarily?_

"Not so confident anymore, are you, Inuzuka-kun?" He murmurs as we head down the stairs.

I straighten my shoulders and raise my chin. "There isn't a use to doubting my decision now. It's happened already."

His smile widens. "Exactly." Two shadowy figures fall in line behind us as we descend the stairs. It's only because they allow themselves to be seen by me, I'm sure. "We may only work with the hand that we are dealt after we make a choice."

Our walk through the streets is slower than I expected. Still, people nod respectfully at Shishou as we pass by. There's more than one civilian who's happy to see Elder Shimura.

It is a strange thought, that Shishou for all his claims at darkness isn't all that unpopular. The Sandaime is wildly more so, but that's because he's Hokage. For someone who doesn't hold an official title and supposedly only has the power to advise the Hokage, Shishou is weirdly popular.

Maybe it's only the clans that know of what his branch of ANBU is doing.

"When you look at this city, what do you see?" We'd just passed a civilian school in the fourth district when he asks. He looks nostalgic. _Did you walk through Konoha with Tou-san as well?_

 _Did you ask him what he saw?_

Our two shinobi ROOT Agents have disappeared. I assume they are still following us.

"My home." But that's not all that Konoha is really. "But it's people that are my home." I card my fingers through the fur behind Ni's ears. "Sometimes the strangers are cold and strange."

He snorts. "Explain."

"They never forgave Tou-san for being born in Iwa." I mutter and resist the urge to kick a pebble down the street. "On my fourth birthday, we went out to fly a red kite and an old woman spit on him in the street."

I didn't know I'm still so bitter about it. They'd mocked his funeral procession as well. And now the village opinions are weird about the Uchiha. Public opinion is difficult to understand and even more difficult to control.

"People will be cruel to what they do not understand." Shishou sets a hand on my shoulder. "I am surprised you would remember something from so long ago."

"It was my last birthday with Tou-san." Tou-san had died the night before my fifth birthday. "I miss him sometimes."

"You always will." When I look up at him, Shishou looks almost human. "We always miss our parents when they leave us."

There'd been a bare biography in Shishou's file which says that he hasn't a spouse or children, and everyone has parents, but he's at an age where it's pretty much statistically impossible for him to still have living parents. His parents are dead then, though I don't know how old he was when he lost them.

File. There'd been something else in his file, and now that question burns on my tongue. "Shishou?" He turns to look at me and suddenly I want very badly to freeze and turn back time. My tongue doesn't care that I don't want to ask though, it just wants to get rid of the burden of the question immediately. "It said that Tou-san was your last apprentice, but you said you didn't know him very well."

"You went to the Archives." The corners of his lips turn down. "An Inuzuka who voluntarily reads files. Maybe I will have you sort my filing cabinet." He hasn't answered the question. "No, Inuzuka-kun. I didn't know Iwa no Kaito as well as I thought I did."

"You mean because, because he started working in RnD?" If Shishou had expected his apprentice to be his political legacy, then Tou-san's choice to work in RnD might be a reason to think that he didn't know Tou-san as well as he thought he did. It's a plausible thought.

And Tou-san had died a few years afterwards, likely too soon for them to make amends since neither Tou-san nor Kaa-san ever mentioned his apprenticeship.

"He had not the ambitions I thought we shared." There's an emotion lurking in his dark eyes that I don't understand. It is not pain, at least, not entirely, but neither is it fully nostalgia or grief or anger or disappointment. "He didn't have what it took to win." That's not what he means though. Tou-san was his student for over ten years.

And Shishou isn't made of stone and shadows as much as he likes to pretend. He is ruthless by what he perceives to be necessity, at least, our political theory discussions had hinted as much. He grew up in a different era.

Tou-san had been his student for long time. It would be impossible not to care at least a little bit.

"Oh." I mumble. He doesn't remove his hand from my shoulder.

He doesn't need a cane. He walks much faster now, though still not fast enough for me to have to run to keep up with him.

It feels like he's running from something.

We're on the edge of the eighth district now, but it sounds like there's a festival under way. Among the grimy buildings of the ninth district, there are several merchant caravans selling all sorts of food and other items. There are firecrackers and among the crush of the crowd, I spy members of the YRC directing people, offering suggestions.

There are buildings in the process of going up, and a street that has been torn down and rebuilt, the buildings rough and shiny in their newness.

"Oh, Taicho." Kasuga appears out of the crowd. "And Elder Shimura." He bows once for Shishou, and then turns and holds his bow in my direction. "There's been a lot of progress going on." He straightens up. "I think at this point, we won't have to pay the merchant caravans any extra fee for them to come back here because they'll have the incentive to come back themselves since they're earning money at a rate far higher than they'd get in another district. It should balance out after a few years so the overall economy of Konoha won't suffer much for it."

I nod and accept the papers he's offering me. "I see you started on the building projects as well."

He rubs the back of his neck. "I've thought of a new idea for headquarters." He gestures toward the finished street. "I just asked them to build a headquarters down here for us, and that's the first thing that went up. You won't believe it, but..." And here he breaks off to take a breath. There's a wild fervor in his eyes, a flush to his cheeks. He's in his element here. "As soon as I announced that the Daimyo was in support of the reforms and that he'd crowned you a princess to do it and that I was your representative down here, I've been getting more and more people showing up to help with these projects. And it's not just people from the ninth district either. People have been showing up from their jobs as far as the sixth district."

"Hime?" It's Ito-kun's younger sister, dressed in a new kimono, far unlike the shabby one she'd been wearing when I last saw her. "Inu-hime!" She laughs and gestures and very soon there are more people crowding around Shishou and I, laughing, crying, offering words of thanks, of consideration, of suggestion.

If I didn't go this morning, if I didn't, I would have left these people alone again, just another politician with another broken promise.

 _No. It was right to be late today._

 _Shishou isn't unreasonable. He wouldn't hurt anyone I love for being twenty minutes late._

 _Not when I have so much to show for it._

Shishou wants results for actions. People part for us though, and Shishou and I take a walk through the festivities together.

Here, at the end of summer, I've planted something new. It couldn't have been done without everyone on the YRC, there is no way I would have been able to do it alone, but they couldn't have done something like this without me either.

We'd achieved something.

I don't know how long our good mood will last, how long it will be smooth sailing, but we'd taken a large step forward.

"So this is what you traded twenty minutes for?" Shishou looks around with considering eyes. Our two ROOT guards are still nowhere in sight, but I assume they won't leave Shishou alone for anything less than a direct order from him.

"Yes." I'd been twenty minutes late so that these merchant caravans could come through. "I had to order the Civilian Council to unblock the merchant caravans which were commissioned to come here today." I blink at him. "I thought I told you that in the note I sent."

"No." He squeezes my shoulder and sighs. "You wrote something in diplomatic hogwash that translated to nothing at all except 'I will be late.'"

"Oh." I didn't think that's what the collection of phrases meant. I'm fairly certain that I wrote him something more concrete than that, just...politely.

"Next time," he begins. "Just tell me exactly what you're doing that will make you late. Diplomatic letters are for your enemies." He sets one knee on the ground so that we are eye level. "Remember this, Hana-chan. I am your teacher, not your enemy."

I nod. "Un." Is he saying what he means? Does he mean something else? What does he mean?

He climbs to his feet, both hands on his cane. _So his knees bother him? Is that why he carries a cane? It isn't just for misdirection so people think he's a harmless old man?_

 _How many layers of misdirection is this? The first layer-people think he's a harmless old man. The second layer-people who know he isn't harmless think it's a front related to the first layer. The third layer-his knees do bother him when he has to bend them, but he's certainly not harmless. There might be even more layers, but that's just related to the cane._

 _Okami. How difficult._

"You will still have to sort filing cabinets one through six." He turns and starts heading back to the tower. I suppose he expects that I will follow him. It's not as if I have somewhere else to go. "I have heard good things about your paperwork filing abilities." _Where did you hear that?_

I resist the urge to groan. It is a relatively innocuous task. It's just mind numbingly dull.

Compared to the other punishments that I could have received, it isn't even close to the top of the pain spectrum.

"Yes, Shishou."

Shishou strides forward confidently in our path back to the Tower, and I, unfortunate disciple that I am, trudge along behind.

* * *

Kiba and Sasuke drag me out to train the following Friday afternoon when I come home. They are, according to them, only half a year away from attending the Academy, and therefore entitled to learning cool ninja tricks, and since Ita-niichan is doing boring things involving numbers and paper he isn't cool enough to teach cool ninja tricks anymore.

I wonder if they have any idea exactly how much paper I push around down at the Station, not to mention how terrible it is to show up at Shishou's office and sort his filing cabinets. I have a sneaking suspicion that filing cabinets one through six contains more paper than four floor to ceiling shelves in the Archives.

"So, what sort of thing did you want to learn?" They are pulling me forward, one for each hand down to the spot behind the kennels after they've checked that I still have my ninja gear on me.

"The cool stuff." Kiba mutters. "The shuriken and kunai stuff, 'cause Kaa-san said not to use chakra un-unsuper-unsuper-something or other."

"Unsupervised." Sasuke reminds him. "Tsume-basan said not to use chakra unsupervised or we'll be turned into stone statues and no one will be able to turn us back."

Well, that's one way to scare them into not experimenting without an adult. It also lessens my need to explain to them why I can't teach them chakra techniques yet.

"But Kiba-chan, you didn't bring your kunai and shuriken with you." I don't see his blunted weapons with him.

He frowns at me. "You've got shuriken and kunai."

He is less than a year away from the Academy. Kaa-san hadn't been as careful with her weapons with me as she'd been with Kiba.

He has to have real weapons someday.

But he's only five. He's only five. _It would be a disservice to wrap him up in cotton wool._

 _Besides, if he's curious about it, it's better to show him how to use kunai with someone else watching him rather than forbidding him to do something and letting him cut his fingers off because he doesn't know how to use it._

Forbidding Kiba from doing something without good reason hasn't ever been an effective way to stop him from doing something. It just makes Kiba exponentially more likely to do the thing.

"Alright." I squeeze his hand. "I'll let you use one of my kunai."

"Yay!" They both cheer and high five each other.

"On several conditions." I have to reel them back in. "One, you don't try to do this by yourselves, and two, that you'll take the safety I'm about to teach you seriously." I kneel down so I'm eye level with them. _My little brothers._ I think half fondly. "These aren't toys. They're weapons for hurting people."

"Aww, Neechan." Kiba frowns. "The kids at the park would be so jealous if we brought them one."

I pinch his cheek. "No."

"But Neechan!" Sasuke crosses his arms huffily. "They don't believe that clans are better at stuff than civilians."

"A weapon isn't something you use to prove that you're better than the civilian children at the park Sasuke, Kiba." I wait until they're both looking at me again. "Remember the funeral?"

"Yashi?" Kiba frowns and scuffs his shoe in the dirt. "What 'bout Yashi?"

"You remember that he's gone forever?" Sometimes, Kaa-san says that I'm too soft on Kiba and that he'll never learn or grow if I'm not going to tell him some cold hard truth. _We have to be cruel to be kind sometimes, Little Nose._ "If you're not careful with a kunai then it could be Sasuke or a kid at the park that's gone forever."

"But-but" They stammer together. "Yashi was killed by bad people."

"A kunai doesn't care if it's thrown by a good person or a bad person." They are absolutely not allowed to bring a kunai to the park, especially not so they can show off. "If it hits another person, it absolutely can kill them even if you didn't mean to and you only wanted to throw it for fun." I ruffle both their hair. "It's definitely not as fun as a paintball blowpipe."

"Yes, Neechan." They chorus, looking far more serious and thoughtful than before.

I gesture for both of them to follow me. "Come on, I'll teach you a cool taijutsu move instead."

They're not ready for live weapons yet.

"Yeah!" Sasuke cheers. "Taijutsu, no one knows that either!"

At least at this age, it will be very difficult for them to put someone in the intensive care unit with punching skills.

* * *

Kiba and I walk home together afterwards. Sasuke had started his trek back to the Uchiha District half an hour earlier so he can make it home before dark. It's the only stipulation Chichi and Mikoto-san have on hanging out, and Sasuke, being the good kid that he is, adheres to it religiously.

We're both a little sweaty and Kiba's kind of tired if his drowsy yawns have anything to say.

"Neechan?" He mumbles as he swings our clasped hands back and forth. "Did you ever throw a kunai wrong?"

"I didn't hit anyone I didn't want to hit." I tell him. I'm not sure that this is the right thing to say, but I suppose by civilian metrics I am a murderer-a girl's body ripped apart in a canyon in Suna, parts of a ROOT Agent raining down on the deck of a ship-but by shinobi standards, its just called doing my job.

"So, you hit people you wanted to hit?" He looks up at me with wide, wide eyes. "They were bad people right?"

Did I know that they were bad people? Did they deserve to die? "No. I don't know that, Kiba-chan." I sigh. "I did what I needed to come home."

"Don't be guilty." Ichi growls from behind me. "Pack's more important than not pack anyway."

Ni and San growl their agreement. "True. True. _True_."

The Triplets think that it's true. I just try not to think about the number of bodies I've left behind in the world already. I'm running on zero ideas.

I have no idea what my actions have already affected. I have no idea how far away we are from the original timeline, whether this one is better or worse. I just know that things are changing. Kiba wasn't friends with Sasuke before. I hadn't been apprenticed to Danzo before. Itachi wasn't Sensei's apprentice before. Things are changing.

But I don't know if it's good or bad.

I push the thoughts away. It's not important right now. What's important is that I'm alive. What's important is that my family is still alive. All I can do is live. I can't believe that I'd damn everyone by living. That's not how this works.

Kiba hugs me hard around the middle. "'M glad Neechan's home." He doesn't let me go, so we just stand there in the middle of the garden path. "Sometimes 'fraid that Neechan won't." His big brown eyes are flecked with gold. "Neechan, people who want to make sure Neechan doesn't come home aren't good people, so they're bad people."

I laugh, because it's really all I can do. In another world, would I have to tell a five year old that I do what I do so that I can to see his smile again? No, I wouldn't have to. It wouldn't have been a part of life before.

But I don't have my life from before. I have my life now. _I am Inuzuka Hana._

"And remember that we'll always want you to come home, Kiba-chan." _If I'm going to remember it for you, then you have to remember it for me, alright?_

He nods. "Un!" He's grown up a little more today, I think.

"You promise not to take anyone's kunai to show other people that you're not supposed to?" I'm a little concerned about his need to show off. He doesn't do it to purposely hurt people, but sometimes he's convinced that he's just _better,_ and that can be concerning. Someday, we will have to talk about how to be proud without being obnoxious.

"Yeah..." He sighs and kicks a pebble down the path. "I promise, Neechan."

I ruffle his hair, and he yelps and tries to straighten it. We continue down the path.

It'll be alright. Kiba doesn't break any promise that he makes.

* * *

Cousin Ashi's around for dinner that night for the first time in months. She's quiet though, for a long time as she seems to be thinking hard over something. "Tsume-basan?"

"Yeah?" Kaa-san's flipping through a book at the table, which is highly unusual for her, but Kiba and I have taken it in stride.

We're sitting on the other side, sneaking ribs off the table for the Triplets and Akamaru to gnaw on. I just have to sneak three for every one of Kiba's.

The game's going great actually.

"I think it might be time for me to be stricken from the reserve roster." Cousin Ashi sighs. "I didn't want to leave active duty, and I don't want to leave the reserves, but at the moment, I'm just not enough."

"Do what you think is right, Ashi." Kaa-san shuts her book and sighs. "I'll tell you that I didn't like the thought of you still being in the reserves, but it's your choice. Don't let the girls pressure you into thinking anything different."

"I think I'm supposed to let go." Cousin Ashi's not that old really. She's somewhere close to Kakashi's age. "My cousin's aren't pressuring me. It's just...I don't think I'm ready to die. There's still so much I want to do."

Kaa-san smiles, slow and steady. "There's no shame in that." She picks up her book once more. "You can pull your name from the reserves whenever you want."

Cousin Ashi smiles as well, sharp and bright. "Thank you, Tsume-basan."

Kaa-san flicks a pea in Kiba's direction because he's still trying to feed Akamaru spare ribs under the table. "Kiba, stop giving your food to Akamaru."

He catches it in his mouth. "Kaa-san! Akamaru needs to eat lots so he can grow really big and be the best partner ever!"

"You need to eat your peas is what you need to be doing." Kaa-san taps her fingers on the cover of her book and glances sharply at the large mountain of peas still present on Kiba's plate.

"I don't like peas." Kiba crosses his arms mutinously. "And I'm never going to eat any of them, so there!" Akamaru whines in agreement.

Kaa-san flicks another pea at them both.

Kiba catches it in his mouth, but then freezes as soon as he realizes what he's doing. "Kaa-san! That's not fair!" He wails dramatically as he accidentally swallows the pea. "I don't wanna ever eat any of them."

Kaa-san turns to me. "Little Nose, tell Kiba he needs to eat peas in order to gain vitamins and nutrients that he needs to grow, otherwise he'll end up being a midget."

Kiba tugs at my sleeve urgently before I can say anything. "Neechan! Tell Kaa-san that I won't eat peas ever even if I have to be a midget forever and ever."

"Kiba-chan?" One of his fondest dreams is growing taller than me. "Do you know what the word midget means?"

"Yeah!" He scratches his head. "It's the state of never eating any peas!"

San snorts. "It also rhymes with the bad form of idiot."

I nudge him with my toe. "Don't call my brother an idiot, San." I turn back to Kiba. "A midget is someone who is shorter than most people because of stunted growth."

"What?" He blinks at me twice before it finally clicks. "Kaa-san!" He's off of his chair in an instant and by Kaa-san's side. "Can't I eat something other than peas that will make me grow tall?"

Kaa-san taps her chin with a finger. "How about spinach?"

"Kaa-san!"

Cousin Ashi and I exchange a glance and burst into helpless chuckles.

* * *

 **A.N.** So here we have...an Uchiha Funeral, various Civilian Council Shenanigans, Danzo, and Inuzuka family dinner. There's still another chapter in this arc before we move onto the next one. This chapter is 10,000 words. Augh. (I thought I could get everything into this chapter, but that would make it 20,000 words, which is just excessive and take forever, and I figured that you guys would want this chapter today instead of next month or something.

Thank you everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed. Honestly, I'm kind of sad that it took me this long to finish this chapter, but Danzo's just so...blegh to write.

Here's hoping the next chapter takes less time.

~Tavina


	73. Entanglements Arc: Nine

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

I want to go find Kakashi after dinner. There's stuff in the scrolls that I need to talk about with him. His apartment isn't too far away. If I hurry, I'll make it home before dark, too.

"Where're you off to, Little Nose?" Kaa-san's still absently reading her book, sitting in the wicker rocking chair on the porch, in the fading light of summer.

"I wanted to ask Kakashi a training question." The only question that remains is whether or not Kakashi is even at home for me to ask. Oh, he'd been around most times when I tried to find him before, but he's _busy._ Being in ANBU is busy work, and there's no real reason for me to always be lucky about picking a time to find him.

"Oh. Make sure to get back before midnight." Kaa-san waves an absent hand at me. "And tell him that he needs to rest. He'll burn himself out if he keeps up his current mission record."

I blink at her. "Has his recent mission record been heavy?"

Kaa-san raises an eyebrow at me, but doesn't take her eyes off of her book. She flips another page. "Have you seen him around recently?"

I consider it. I haven't seen Kakashi since he gave me the scrolls and then promptly dropped off the face of the Elemental Nations. "No, I haven't."

That's...concerning. Even if I've been busy lately, I still should have noticed. Kakashi shows up biweekly most of the time. Oh, he won't make a spectacle out of it, and most of the time, it's barely noticeable interactions. He'd pass me in my morning run, or we do something, or I'd see him at least.

I haven't seen him for a couple weeks now.

"So yeah," Kaa-san mutters as she flips another page. "You should tell him to take a break, or he'll kill himself."

"I'll make sure to tell him." More nicely than Kaa-san's interjections, unless of course, he's acting like a troll again. Hopefully, he won't need to be bullied into going to the hospital again. "And I'll definitely be back before midnight."

By all rights, I'm ten and a half. A midnight curfew is actually pretty late, all things considered.

Kaa-san hums.

As I settle into the steady rhythm of roof hopping, I spare a thought to wonder what Kaa-san's reading that's got her so engrossed in continuing to read it.

It's not as though Kaa-san never reads, or that she isn't intelligent, it's that she doesn't normally prefer reading to other activities. She doesn't normally read at the dinner table and continue reading afterward.

Still, it's probably nothing, so I leave it.

"Kakashi?" I'm close to his apartment now. I swing off of the roof onto the landing and into the little alcove before his front door.

"Boss is out." Bull raises his head from his paws. "He sent me to tell you that he'll be back next week." Well, I can't expect Kakashi to always be here. He's done a good job of being where I can find him at short notice so far, but he's a busy man. ANBU doesn't just chew you up and spit you out. It also takes your days and nights until you don't know the difference anymore sometimes.

Bull doesn't speak human. I assume Kakashi asked him to stand sentry just for me then, since he doesn't have another friend who would speak dog. Unless it's Kaa-san, but I don't think that Kaa-san visits his apartment ever.

"Did he leave you food?" Sure, Bull might be able to take care of himself, but Kakashi's still going to be gone for a week. Dog food does get stale and weird when left out for a week.

He points his nose towards a bag of dog food propped up next to the door and his water bowl. "He left me food." He blinks. "And I can leave to go back to the summons world whenever. Boss wouldn't mind now that I've passed on the message."

It's dry kibble though which is more like field rations for dogs. It doesn't taste good, but at least it's non perishable. "Do you want to come back to the kennels?" He'd still be lonely in the summons world. The rest of Kakashi's pack is with him, I assume. It's unlikely that he's guarding the Hokage, so he has to be out of Konoha.

Bull stands up. As the largest of Kakashi's dogs, his full height comes up to my waist. "I could for a bit." He wuffs. "If no one minds."

"No one will." He's...a mastiff most likely. At least, he looks like a mastiff from my former life. "You'll fit right in."

The Inuzuka dogs are always some form of wolfdog. Most of them grow to be massive alongside their partners as they age as a result of sharing a chakra bond, so we don't really keep great records of breed or type. It doesn't matter to us what breed our partners are. It matters more that we are pack together, family, together. Not to mention, Bull's size wouldn't be of concern like he might be in other households. "I'll race you back to the house?"

He looks like he needs the chance to stretch his legs, and I'm always up for a run.

He takes off like a shot and leaves me to follow in his wake.

We fly past the gates to the district, but slow down as we get to the spokes of the wheel. He swings his head back and forth, trying to track my scent through the crisscross of scent paths to the right way back to the house.

"This way." Kaa-san didn't move us into the big house in the center of the district. It's supposed to be the clan head's house, but Kaa-san's untraditional at the best of times, and the clan's willing to roll with it, so we still live in my childhood home. "It's on the outer circle." Kosshi-basan's house stands empty on the best of days.

Bull wuffs and follows me back.

"You back so soon, Little Nose?" Kaa-san calls as I skid to a halt at the edge of our yard. She doesn't raise her head from her book. "And it's Bull, too, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Bull nods. "Hana said that I was welcome to come visit."

"You are." Kaa-san beckons absently for him to come closer and scratches him behind the ears when he does. "Tell your summoner he needs to take a break soon alright? Bon's just around the corner."

"Will." Bull tells her. "Dunno how well he'll listen."

"Drag him with your teeth if you have to." Kaa-san says without missing a beat.

I make to head into the house. "Well, I can always tell Kiba-chan a new story tonight." He's been clamoring for another story for a while now. I might have to tell him about Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table next.

He'll get a kick out of the story about Sir Gawain and the Dragon for certain. Kiba loves stories about dragons. I can only hope that he doesn't grow up with the burning desire to rescue princesses from angry fire breathing beasts.

* * *

"I'm sorry about calling you to come out with me." Izumi wanders around through the clothing store in front of me. "It's just...oh I don't know how to explain this."

"How's Inabi-san?" I ask. She'd come around this morning, and Kosha had found her wandering around in the district and brought her to our house. I haven't seen Inabi-san since the funeral, and even then, only briefly. I'm bad at being comforting. I can only seek to be yet another distraction. As of right now, I'm doing a bad job.

"That's just it." She says as she looks at a kimono-shirt. "Inabi-san is...he's very frustrated right now." She's doing this to distract herself, certainly. She doesn't really want to go shopping, and she doesn't need any of these fancy shirts and dresses in her daily life. She's just...upset and drifting.

"His injuries haven't been getting anything better?" I hold up a purple shirt. "You might like this one."

She glances at it briefly. Plum purple's her color. It brings out the glow of her skin and the dark tones of her eyes, but she's not into it today. "Oh, yeah, that one's pretty." She sighs and turns away. "They have. Kaa-san and I've been trying to tell him that he's getting better, but it frustrates him, y'know. He'd promised Kaa-san to take care of her and stuff, and now he can barely walk down the hall without having to sit down."

Sometimes, I wonder if permanent injury might be worse than being dead at times. What's the good of living when you can't protect the people dear to you? I suppose it just depends on how you look at it. Cousin Ashi takes her limp in stride even though she used to do so much more-run, jump, dance. She'd loved dancing before the Kyuubi. Koma-senpai walks carefully, tapping the ground before him with his cane where before he could fly. He'd been ANBU, been a prodigy before...

Shishou is surprisingly human at times, but I can't forget what he's done to Koma-senpai. _He might not be my enemy, not right now, but who is to say that he won't hurt more people?_ He hasn't punished me unduly, but I cannot forget.

I cannot forget. I cannot. I must not.

It's an attitude thing as much as anything else, but that's not something I can tell Izumi right now. It won't be any good.

"He'll work through it." I squeeze her hand and put the shirt back up on the rack. "You know he will."

She just needs a friend right now.

"He might be happier if I have guests over." She looks over at me and smiles half ruefully. "Do you want to come over? I know I just said stuff at my house isn't the best right now, but I've got new nail polish, and I've always wanted to paint someone else's nails."

I shrug. "Sure. I'll come over." It's Saturday. Kiba's out doing something at the Naka River with Akamaru; I'm not working, and there's no Shishou to hurry to the Tower for. I'm free. "We can train together too if you'd like." I'm not sure what the purpose of nail polish would be, given that I'd only chip it in my next nightstick session with Chichi, but if Izumi's more comfortable with painting my nails than a sparring match then sure, we can paint my nails.

"You know, after the last time we talked, I started thinking about all the stuff Inabi-san does for me." We exit the store and take the leisurely trail toward the Uchiha District. "It's a rather lot."

"Most people in our lives do." I have plenty of people that do so much for me without my daily thanks too-Kaa-san, Kiba, Chichi, Sensei, Kiho-bachan, the list goes on. We walk in comfortable silence for a bit, two blocks, maybe more.

"Hey, Hana-chan?" She asks after a long moment.

"Yeah?" We've known of each other for forever, but we haven't ever really been that close before. Maybe it was because I was in a hurry to graduate the Academy, maybe it's because I was so busy before, maybe it's something else.

When we first started the Academy, there's roughly an equal number of boys and girls. By graduation, only one girl for every two boys makes it to the status of elite genin. The ratio of girls to boys who make chunin decreases yet again.

The number of Kunoichi who make jounin is less than a quarter of the number of male shinobi who make jounin. I don't know the stats for ANBU. I suspect it's worse.

There has never been a female Hokage in the history of Konoha, despite there being four Hokages.

Killing people as a job description isn't really a gendered task, but despite that, the number of women who make it to the top of the shinobi infrastructure is dismally low.

Of this generation of clan heads, Kaa-san is the only woman, and that's because our clan works differently. We call our clan heads mothers. Tsunade is the most famous kunoichi from Konoha, but she's also not _in_ Konoha anymore. I don't know if she left before my birth or not, but she's certainly not here anymore.

"Have you ever been to a sleepover or a birthday party?" Izumi's looking at me with bright eyes. "I mean, back in the Academy, you stayed pretty close to Hyuga-kun and Aburame-kun even though they were quite a bit older than us." That's...not exactly true. Toku and Mu-kun are only two years older than the rest of us.

I suppose when you're six two years is a lot.

"I haven't been to a sleepover that wasn't at my cousin's house." Kosha had dragged me off one day, and we'd played cards until two in the morning while Kihaku and Kotsu flitted back and forth with different clothing patterns. After that day, I've been too busy to attend another gathering with the girls. "And I've been to Mu-kun and Toku's birthday celebrations before." They can't be called parties exactly, more like small gatherings. Neither the Hyuga nor the Aburame are the most sociable of clans, and I'd missed Itachi's birthday party this summer.

I heard from Inabi-san back when he was still at the station that Itachi's birthday party this year trumped all the birthday parties that came before it. Mikoto-baasan has an indulgent streak, and Itachi turned ten this year so the entire clan had turned out with presents and well wishes.

It's not like my social life is sad. I just...don't have a single girlfriend to go shopping for clothes and nail polish and makeup with. I take my clothing choices to my older cousins and my frustrations with people to Kaa-san.

"Well, we're friends, aren't we?" She muses as she pulls me down a side street inside the district. "I'll invite you over for one sometime and we can dress up with Kaa-san's closet, and we can talk about our crushes or something like how we're supposed to do it at these sorts of things."

"I'd like that." I don't have a crush on anyone, but I wouldn't mind spending more time with Izumi.

Izumi nods, absently, not entirely here or with me. "I'm home, Kaa-san!" She calls as she slips off her sandals by the doorway, and gestures for me to do the same. "And I brought a friend."

"Oh, that's nice, Izu-chan." A harried looking woman hurries past us with the laundry. She glances back at us, and then pauses. "You're Inuzuka Hana-chan, right?"

I bow politely for her. "Yes." I suppose the Uchiwa on my left shoulder might have had to do with it. That, and I do walk around in the district a rather lot. There aren't that many other Inuzuka girls who Izumi would know either.

"Make yourself at home." She calls over her shoulder.

"Come on, my room's this way." Izumi gestures for me to follow along. Their house is laid out differently than Ita-kun's. I suppose Chichi really is a traditionalist.

Izumi's house is much more...western. Large, open spaces, heavy doors, cream walls. It's interesting, since I assume that Inabi and Hazuki-san had something to do with the decor. _I have to remember that the Uchiha can't possibly all be like Chichi._

The walls of Izumi's room are painted lavender. She has a white dresser pushed up against the opposite wall and a window with pale green curtains overlooking her study table.

"It's a bit messy right now." She tosses a mesh shirt into the clothes hamper. "But you can sit on the bed and and I'll go get the different colors." I make my way over to the bed as she rummages around in her desk drawer. "I think red will look good on you, right?"

I smile back at her. "You know my preferences so well."

She does my nails with a steady hand and a sure eye, chattering all the while about the boys on her team, the recent C-rank merchant guarding mission they went on, the one corner store which sells the best cheap onigiri and how her yukata order for Bon had gotten lost with the seamstress and the scramble to get it back in time for the festival next week.

I do her nails in plum purple and accidentally paint her fingers while trying to get into the corners. She laughs it off and keeps talking about how I should come over again sometime so that we can, "definitely spar and you can give me some tips."

Hazuki-san appears later in the afternoon to ask if I want to stay for dinner, which I realize is my cue to go. I shouldn't impose on them when they're still recovering. "No, it's fine. Kaa-san's waiting for me to get back."

Izumi walks me to the door, and I make my excuses as the Triplets prowl around the yard.

"I'll see you next time, Hana-chan!" She calls after me.

I wave back at her. "See you."

"She's sad." Ichi mentions as we head back home. "But seeing you has made her feel better."

I bop him on the nose. "You think everyone feels better when they see me." The Triplets and their perception of me is skewed. I'd readily admit to that, and I think they would too, if someone were to explain to them what it meant to have skewed perceptions.

"That's cause it's true." San snuggles in on my other side, and Ni licks my hand.

"We don't like to tell lies. So we think it's true."

I pat them all on the head and for the thousandth time in my life, lament the fact that I don't have three hands, so one of the Triplets isn't always missing out.

We go home, in the fading light, not thinking of the days to come, but only of our imperfect present moment.

Or, at least we would have made it home if Shisui didn't magically appear from around the corner and nearly run us over with the shunshin. "Oh, whoops." He laughs and catches me by the hand when I nearly go tumbling backwards. "Didn't see you there, Hana-chan."

I make a face at him. "Then don't go so fast, Shisui-nii." I'm not as close to him as I am with Itachi or even Sasuke, but Shisui's a friendly guy, and it's terribly hard to dislike him, so I don't even bother trying.

"Tell you what." He says with a lopsided grin and a wink. "Since I nearly knocked you over, let me make it up to you by taking you out to dinner." He loops and arm through mine and drags me off.

"I thought you were a terrible cheapskate about dinner." The last time we'd gone to dinner together had been by his invitation as well, after he'd said he would teach me something and we ended up wandering the market together. "At this rate, I'm going to put holes in your reputation."

"Ah, that's why we're going to Ichiraku ramen." He laughs, rubbing the back of his neck with his other hand. "I'm not going to be going to a five star restaurant any time soon."

I also laugh. "Well, I guess it's fine."

"You like ramen then?" We've slowed to a fast walk through the busy streets of center city Konoha.

I nod. "It was fun last time." I had liked noodles in the past, whenever Cousin Ashi could be compelled to make them, but I like mochi quite a bunch too.

"Hah!" He pumps a fist into the air. "No matter how many time Itachi has compelled you to eat dango, you have never once told him that it was a fun thing to eat."

I have a feeling that Itachi won't be hearing the end of this in the near future, and that he will inevitably drag himself to my house to hang around with kicked kitten eyes about my betrayal.

I am at a loss as to how to temper Shisui's buoyancy though.

As it turns out, I don't have to. As we round the corner close to Ichiraku's a small blond blur tackles Shisui in the middle. "Oh man, it's the nice Niisan again."

Shisui ruffles his hair and pushes him towards one of the stools. "You can only get two bowls on me, Naruto. I'm not about to become less of a cheapskate anytime soon."

That's the thing about Shisui though. At heart, he's a generous individual. At heart, Shisui is only love. At heart, Shisui is only kindness. At heart, Shisui is so vibrantly and brilliantly _alive._

My eyes meet Teuchi-san's and I know he thinks so too.

Still, the sword of Damocles lingers over everyone with the name Uchiha, and Shisui most of all.

"So hey, Neechan. You know the nice Niisan too?" Naruto breaks through my thoughts with the force of a wrecking ball and I wrest my thoughts away from the dangers of being an Uchiha and how to avert the course of fate.

"Sure." I chirp at him as I order a bowl of salt ramen. "I know the nice Niisan."

The look on Shisui's face is priceless.

* * *

The royal messenger comes for me while I'm in Chichi's office, sorting paperwork. Or, well, the royal messenger would have come for me, if not for the fact that Yasino-nii wasn't so far behind.

"Kageyoshi-sama, you cannot go in there!" I'd been reading about an apartment lease dispute, the report of which has dragged on at least five pages when the statement brings me to a pause.

 _Kageyoshi-sama? Yasino-nii?_

"And who are you to tell me that there is a place in Fire Country that I cannot go?" Yasino-nii speaks with honey sweetness and deadly sharpness. "Step aside Abe-san."

"But you ought to summon the Inu-hime if you need to speak to her!"

With a sigh, I set aside the report that I've been reading. Chichi raises an eyebrow in my direction, but says nothing.

"The Daimyo." I offer, though we both know who it is already. "I should go out and see what's going on."

Chichi nods and waves me out.

I shut the door behind me before examining the scene before me in the hallway. There is no one from the station who is attempting to block Yasino-nii's passage, though the retainer prostrated before him is doing a good job of that by himself. Two guards, one of them Asuma, the other Chiriku, lurks around in the background.

Yasino-nii is dressed in dark, muted green with black dragons on his wide sleeves. His hair is pulled up and looped through that ridiculous headdress, and he's frowning though he brightens up when he sees me.

"Imouto." He offers me a hand. "We have much to discuss."

I bow before accepting his hand. "Hirayasu-oniisan is very kind." I can't call him Yasino-nii in public. Not that this deserted hallway in the Station is all that public.

He makes an impatient gesture. "Yasino-nii, and that is final, Hana."

Alright then. He's already made his personal preferences clear.

I step over the retainer on the floor carefully. "Where are we going?" It is unlikely that the Daimyo of Fire Country would deign to talk in a place like Mufu-an.

"The Daimyo's Konoha Residence." He rolls his shoulders forward as though loosening his muscles and strides on. "As it is, the place hasn't been opened in at least ten years, so I hope it is still habitable." The unspoken implication goes that if it is not, then heads will roll. He has announced his visit to Konoha ahead of time.

The guards snap into position behind us, and the retainer pries himself off of the floor to hurry after us, casting strange glances at me all the while.

Yasino-nii pauses to greet people as we take the scenic route through the market. He stops to smell the flowers, marvel over the wares, smile at people. He is such a different man from the one I'd met charging through the market in Kakunodate on a horse that the difference of a few months is almost too striking.

A Daimyo has not made his way on foot through on of Konoha's markets in...I don't even know how long. Not in my lifetime anyway, that much I know.

 _He only needed to be reminded of how to care, not that he ought to care itself. He already knows that._

Still, we leave the market behind, and he pulls me into a covered litter. "And now I shall have to fear being assassinated some other time." He makes a face as he says this. "The number of retainers I have worried over my health now that I sit on the Chrysanthemum Throne is shocking."

"Surely it can't be bad that they want your continued health and wellbeing?" I'm not sure why he is irritated with them exactly...it is the stuffiness of social constrictions that come with his title, but more than that somehow. His irritation with his current plight runs deeper than that.

"Three months ago, most of them wouldn't shed a single tear if they came to my funeral." He closes his eyes, swaying back and forth as we are now carried through the streets towards the Daimyo's residence. "I don't award sycophants."

 _Well. That is something I guess._

"You still have Asuma and Chiruki and Seiya-san to care for you." A pause, a beat, and I remember the little girl who had called him 'Horsie' with such fondness. "And Naho-chan."

He smiles, his eyes still closed. "And you."

I huff a laugh. "I meant in the Capital, Yasino-nii, but of course, you have me too." He nods, but says nothing.

We spend the rest of our trip in a comfortable silence.

* * *

As it turns out, the Royal Staff did open the Konoha Residence before Yasino-nii arrived and the large gated property tucked away beneath the cliffs is more than simply habitable.

Yasino-nii takes it all in with a pleased smile and waves away the retainers that try to follow us. "I am speaking with my sister." He says, turning down a side hallway. "And you may interrupt us on the pain of death."

Asuma and Chiruki, his two silent shadows thus far, pause when we reach the well lit solar.

"You both can stay outside. I do not expect any shinobi to attack me while in Konoha."

They look at each other once, and then nod. "We will be just outside the door, Hiruyasu-sama."

Yasino-nii makes another face at me when he turns around again. "You see? They will not even be persuaded to call me Yasino-sama now. It is as if the name my mother gave me no longer gets any use whatsoever, which begs the question of why we have private names to begin with. I would not feel so bereft of it if I never had it to begin with."

"You didn't pull me here with such a public display of affection to talk about how no one will use your name anymore, Yasino-nii." No. Yasino-nii does nothing without reason, and even though he is fond of me and my blunt ways, that wouldn't be enough for quite this amount of public display.

He is a private person by nature after so many years of hiding his powers from Consort Ine. It is very unlikely that he's shed that in just a few months.

He sits with a sigh. "What am I to do with my brother, Hana-chan?"

I don't ask him which one. It's about Asahano, the brother he still has locked up in prison. "What does your heart say that you do?"

"My heart says that I can't leave him in prison until he actually rots down there." Yasino-nii takes a droll sip of his tea. "But it also says that I can't very well let him out unless I plan to execute him or else my own head might hit the floor before he dies."

Neither of those options are very acceptable. "You could send him away to another city to be watched over by retainers and guards?" It would remove what influence remained to Asahano in court.

"And risk the chance of some power hungry courtier using him as a way to launch a rebellion, or for him to escape en route?" He shakes his head. "No."

"Why can't he remain in prison?" Asahano might be capable of many things, plotting to kill his own blood brother being one of them, but he lacks power without his mother. It's unlikely that he can plot a rebellion from a prison cell.

"Because some of my dear retainers are getting antsy about my humanity when I keep one of my brothers locked away in a prison cell without light and only normal prison food instead of accomodations fit for a prince." I examine his face closely.

His deadpan really is excellent.

"Maybe you should remind them that he plotted murder against the Daimyo and the normal punishment for that is death." By law, treason in Fire Country is punishable by death.

Yasino-nii raises an eyebrow at me. "A pot and a kettle was it?"

So he did have a hand in the poisoned tea. At this point in our acquaintance I am not surprised any longer. "So remind them." I say again. "Remind them that you are already being lenient and that you have no reason to pardon Asahano."

"I would." He raises his gaze to the sky. "I would, if Morimo isn't threatening to stage a hunger strike by the end of the week if one of his brothers is still in prison."

There is only one prince in prison. I sigh. "Is there any way you can persuade Morimo-ooji to not do that?"

"Unlikely." Yasino-nii replies brightly. "I hate to think what would happen if I actually ordered Asahano brought out for his execution."

"Distract Morimo-ooji and leave Asahano in prison." I feel that this is the best option. "And if anyone questions you, remind them that you are being lenient as it is because Asahano is your misguided brother and if anyone else had plotted the death of a Daimyo they would have been executed long ago." It is what he wants to do already, I'm half certain.

He doesn't want to kill his younger brother, at least, not now when tensions in Court are still running high after such turbulent political upheaval. He would be stupid if he pardoned Asahano and let him out of prison.

He doesn't have many more options. Once more, I am struck by how different my thought process is now. _I would have had a hard time seeing all of this before my trip to Kakunodate. I would have seen it differently._

 _Did Danzo really teach me so much in the intervening month of July?_ The thought is insidious and refuses to be completely banished.

He closes his eyes and breathes out slowly. "You are correct." He rubs his temple with a hand and opens his eyes again. "I am not the court weathervane. I am not my father. I will not be led by the whims of others."

Now that Asahano is no longer the main focus of our conversation, I turn the focus for the official reason that the Daimyo is in Konoha. "Did your talks with the Hokage and his advisers go well?"

Everytime there is a change in government in either Konoha or Kakunodate, the two leaders meet again to talk over old agreements and treaties.

Once every five years of peace, the Hokage makes his way to Kakunodate for a discussion regarding the economy. During that time, the village is supposedly in high alert.

Seeing as the third war ended when I was close to four, the last time the Hokage visited the Capital was back when I was a new genin.

"Grain will be cheaper here in Konoha soon, now that the Imube clan can no longer artificially raise the prices." He looks significantly cheered by this statement. "I have renegotiated the rates of mission requests coming to Konoha as well."

"It has been a successful visit then?" I ask and take a sip of my own tea.

Black tea this time. Clearly, the staff here in Konoha haven't been informed about their new Daimyo's preference for rose tea.

Flower teas aren't expensive in Konoha.

If it wasn't because the thought is far too paranoid, I would think it because Sensei is far too fond of it and strives to keep the price of his favorite drinks artificially low.

"Yes." Yasino-nii sets his teacup down. "I am still good at gaining concessions from people who have far more power than me in their own territory."

So that is why he is here in Konoha. It makes him look more willing to compromise. It looks like something new, and it brings the goodwill of the civilians to his favor.

 _Do you ever do anything without at least three benefits attached?_

I have to learn to be more like him, to turn every situation to my own advantage if I am to win against the Civilian Council.

"Speaking of concessions," Yasino-nii leans back in his chair. "How goes your reform project?"

"We've begun to tear down the old buildings and replace them with new ones. There's more food going into the district. Kasuga-kun has been organizing new job opportunities, and citizens in the other districts in Konoha have been volunteering their time as well." I tell him about it, about the fight I had with the Civilian Council, the opening party I'd been to down in the Ninth District.

How there is progress coming, still impeded in some ways, but much faster now than it had ever been before.

"They put it to a vote?" Yasino-nii frowns. "That is _not_ protocol."

"Yes?" They weren't supposed to vote?

"They can vote during normal proceedings in the absence of a royal." Yasino's grip on the table leaves his knuckles white. "But in the presence of a royal they ought to _fall in line._ "

So they had belittled me with the voting process then. I will keep that in mind. "Yasino-nii-"

"You didn't know that." He rises quickly, a grip on his sword hilt, fingers wrapping, unwrapping and rewrapping, the corners of his lips tight. "You didn't know that, and they should never have been so insubordinate as to-" He breaks off as he paces around the room. "I will have to formulate a new plan. And I think I like the one that I'm about to implement."

I'm not sure I want to be on the other end of the cruel twist of his lips. "Yasino-nii?"

"Repeat after me." He says. "I am a royal. I bow to no mere Noble Council. They bow to _me._ "

"I am a royal." It is a little silly. After all, we are the only two people in this room. "I bow to no mere Noble Council." It feels good to say it though. "They bow to _me._ "

"But don't worry." He waves a hand. "I'll be scaring them so badly that they won't think of trying for more power over you in at least the next three years."

"What are you planning to do?" Whatever it is, it promises pain for someone.

"Oh, they can chew over either listening to royal orders or being officially disbanded." He waves a careless hand in the direction of their council chamber. "Chichi-ue gave them far too much power. I will not be so careless as to assume that they will not test their boundaries in the future."

"Might they not choose to be disbanded?" That would certainly leave a power vacuum to be filled with something unfortunately worse than a meddlesome council.

"Then I can make a new council that will actually listen to me without giving anyone headaches." He offers me a hand up. "Either way, this situation will improve itself with a few good suggestions from the mouth of the Daimyo."

"Careful, Yasino-nii." I crack a smile. "You might start to sound drunk on the powers of the Daimyo soon."

He makes another face at me. "Watch me walk out there and have a hopeless crowd of toadies worrying over whether or not someone poisoned my tea."

I have to concede, that doesn't sound drunk on power at all. "Fair point."

But this conversation has taught me many things, not the least of which is that I have power that I still don't know how to wield properly. Perhaps a trip to the Archives and a talk with Shishou is in order.

Chichi glances up to me when I return, and I shrug. "The Daimyo wanted to know how his four million ryo investment was going."

It is true, but it is not the full truth.

Chichi nods. "The boys came by." He means Kiba and Sasuke then. I wait for him to continue. "The Inuzuka have plans for Bon, as do the Uchiha, but if you would like to invite your family over for a small gathering on the third night…" He trails off as he considers it. "It would be very welcome."

I nod. "I will ask to see if Kaa-san has any plans for that night."

While the first two days are full of events that we will do as a clan, one of the first Obon celebrations where we will join the wider clan now that we are to be a fully integrated pack, the third night is generally for intimate family gatherings. Perhaps Kaa-san wants to visit Uncle Kegawa's yearly barbeque.

We lapse into silence only broken by the sound of moving paper and Chichi's pen moving across yet another report.

* * *

That evening, Kaa-san closes her book with a heavy thud during dinner. "I'm taking the next Jounin Exam after Bon." The Jounin Exam is far less publicized than the Chunin Exams. For once, it only happens within the village. For another, despite being a chunin now, I know nothing of how one actually becomes a Jounin besides a field promotion for bravery in a desperate situation.

"When's that?" It's not strange that Kaa-san wants to take the exam. For one, she's been a Special Jounin for ages now, and while she hasn't focused on promotions before, Kiba-chan's about to start the Academy and I'm already working. There is less reason for her to decline out of village jobs now that we're mostly self sufficient.

Kaa-san had enjoyed her hunting jobs despite them being far more dangerous than the search and rescue ones that she's been taking in recent years.

 _I don't even think Kaa-san's left Fire Country since at least half a year before Kiba was born._

For someone who loved the thrill of the chase so much, it had been a big thing to give up.

It's only right that she comes back to it now.

"In the winter. They haven't decided on a date for it yet." Kaa-san flicks a pea in Kiba's direction. "Eat up, pup, or you'll be catching flies."

His mouth is hanging open rather comically. "Kaa-san's going to be a _jounin?_ " His eyes are as big as saucers. "Woah." Then he frowns. "Thought Kaa-san was already a jounin?"

Kaa-san laughs and ruffles his hair. "I'm a Special Jounin, Kiba-chan. That's a type of ninja not a mark of how brilliant I am." She foresees his inevitable confusion and heads it off preemptively. "Now let's go get ready for the discussions about Bon this year, yeah?"

Kiba bounces up and down in his seat. "Yeah, yeah yeah! Bon stuff!"

Akamaru voices his agreement from the top of my brother's head. "Bon!"

Ichi raises his head from his front paws, an ear flicking in Akamaru's direction. "Overexcitable pup."

Kuromaru cuffs him over the ear. "Like you weren't just as excitable a few years ago."

I smother a giggle. "Careful, Ichi. You'll turn into an old grouch before your years."

"Will Jiji be there? For the Obon stuff?" _Jiji?_

Our grandfather died in the uneasy peace before the Second Great Shinobi war, and there aren't that many old men in our clan. Who does Kiba mean?

"Which Jiji are you talking about Kiba?" Kaa-san kneels down in front of him. "Can you tell me what he was like?"

Kiba rubs the back of his head. "The clan Jiji I met on the shrine steps." He scrunches his face up. "He smelled like...wind, but wind doesn't have a smell, and dirt but without the living stuff and he had lots of white hair so he gotta be really old. He even said so." That's an odd description for my brother to make. Kiba's nose is a lot better than mine, and for him to be so vague about a smell has to mean that he's never met it before.

"The clan Jiji?" Kaa-san blinks once. "You met him on the shrine steps?"

If Kiba had met him on the shrine steps, it is most likely one of the older men of the clan. No outsider would be able to get to the shrine in the middle of the district so easily, or end up on the shrine steps. Only Inuzuka have need to ask favors from Okami after all.

"Yeah! He had the fangs that said he was clan and pack." Kiba points at his own chubby cheeks. "I didn't just trust a random strange Ossan. He got fangs and played marbles and did a cool disappearing ninja trick."

Kaa-san lets it go. Whoever Kiba met, he couldn't have been dangerous. Or well, since most shinobi who know 'ninja tricks' are dangerous...not dangerous to _Kiba._ "Well, it is a clan meeting, Kiba-chan." She rises, and we all go to scrub our hands in the sink. "If you do see him at the meeting bring him over so I can thank him for playing a game of marbles with you, alright?"

"Yeah!" Kiba punches the air in victory. "I'll make sure Kaa-san meets the nice Jiji."

* * *

 **A.N.** And so we end this arc. (Finally.) and move into the next rather short Arc about Bon.

I shall hopefully not take so long a break between this update and the next one. (Glances at the last updated date for this fic, and realizes it's been nearly three months. *Yikes*)

I'll be trying very hard to update on the one year anniversary, August 22nd, but also definitely before that. Still, I am moving to college next month, so we'll see. Life has been getting busy for me. I have still been writing as much as ever, but most of it isn't finished perspectives for Ashen, and AU drabbles so I don't have as much to post as when I wrote a thousand to three thousand words for this fic everyday. Thank you all for being patient as I move into the next stage of my life.

Thank you so much to everyone who has read, reviewed and favorited. I no longer reply to reviews as much as I used to, but if you have any burning questions, you're welcome to PM me, and I will do my best to get back to you.

~Tavina


	74. Days of the Dead Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

As it turns out, we do not figure out who Kiba's mysterious Jiji is. Kaa-san stays behind to talk to Uncle Kegawa and Uncle Teiru about the service, so Kiba and I go on ahead.

Still, some of the Clan didn't show up to the meeting, so it isn't something to worry over. If the Jiji has fangs, then he doesn't mean the clan any ill will. Mostly likely, Kiba just made a friend with one of the few bored old men of our Clan. _Who else would play marbles?_

Still, even though Kaa-san's relaxed, I worry over it all the same. "We can go see the Jiji together next time, alright?"

I don't know why I'm so much more concerned about this than something else. Kiba's met other people before. Heck, Kiba's met what feels like nearly the entirety of the Uchiha clan and half the Village by himself now, but that doesn't mean that this mention of a stranger on the shrine steps isn't concerning to me.

On the off chance that Kiba's Jiji _isn't_ an Inuzuka, that would be a security risk, since the shrine is in the center of the clan. It's hard to imagine that a stranger Kiba's never met before could gain access to Okami's shrine without alerting _someone._

Kiba frowns. "He doesn't show up at the shrine lots." But the next moment he pats my hand. "But think he'd like you, Neechan. We should go and see if he's there tomorrow."

"Alright then." I agree. "We'll go see him after dinner tomorrow."

"Yeah!" Kiba swings our hands back and forth as we walk around.

Bon this year will be different. For one, we won't just be visiting Tou-san's grave. We'll be visiting Kosshi-basan and Kouga-jisan and our grandparents. For another, it is the first Bon in a long time where the entire Inuzuka Clan will be holding a joint service.

The Days of the Dead aren't like the Winter Festival. It's more than a celebration of surviving another year. It's more like a celebration of life and death and the relationship between the living and their ancestors.

Considering that we call ourselves descendants of Okami, we have a whole lot of history with our ancestors.

Still, Bon is still a few days off, so I pull my hand from Kiba's and take off. "Race you to the house!"

"Hey!" My little brother shrieks. "That's not fair!" Still, he isn't far behind me, sprinting as fast as his short legs can take him.

I could push myself further and leave him behind in the dust, but that's not the purpose of this exercise. No, Kiba needs some motivation to practice running, but I don't have to crush any of his dreams.

So of course, I slow just a little bit, and he shoots past me, clattering onto the porch just a hair's breadth before my reaching hand. He squeezes himself through the gap in the screen door and promptly collapses in the doorway. "Ha!" He gasps. "Neechan has to tell me a story!"

"Story!" Akamaru agrees. "Neechan has to tell a story!"

The Triplets were following behind at a much more sedate pace, so as to not crowd Kiba and Akamaru, and only arrive now.

One of San's ears flick forward. "Sumimaru says there's a hunt going on tonight."

I spare a thought that San might be sweet on Cousin Kotsu's Sumimaru, but he hasn't said anything about it, so I don't ask. "Okay. Happy hunting."

The Triplets vanish around the corner of the house. The whole exchange hadn't taken more than two seconds.

"Alright." I agree as I pick Kiba up and sling him over my shoulders, spinning us in a dizzying circle in the hallway. "I'll tell you a bedtime story. This one's about vigilante ninja who were named the Knights of the Round Table…"

I had loved stories in my previous life. I still remember that much about who I used to be, but the memories are getting blurrier. My first childhood is nothing more than a hollow, soft echo, piano music from a further room that I can barely hear. I still remember enough to tell stories though, and the Legend of King Arthur is fairly famous.

"Why are they named after a table?" Kiba takes a flying leap at my bed, and we curl up in a pile despite the balmy summer air.

"It's because that's the table the shinobi-daimyo named Arthur built. Back in those days, a perfectly round table was hard to find." This is a silly reason for why the Knights of the Round Table are called what they are, but it seems to satisfy Kiba.

More or less.

"That's still a dumb name though." He wriggles restlessly. "Neechan?"

"What?" I ask.

Kiba frowns, hard, baby teeth worrying over his bottom lip. "Does disappearing quick mean that you're forever?"

I blink. "What?" _What even is that statement?_

"That's what Jiji said 'bout stuff." Kiba mutters. "He always leaves in a shower of sparks and doesn't tell me how old he is, except he's really super old 'cause he's older 'n our actual Jiji. He said so."

"Kiba," I don't sit up. "What does the Jiji look like?" _Forever? A shower of sparks?_

"Told you already." He hugs a pillow. "He's got lots of white hair 'cause he's super old 'n yellow-gold eyes and fangs just like us." He wrinkles his nose. "And he was wearing really old looking clothes too."

Gold eyes.

Red fangs.

White hair. There's a hunt going on tonight.

There's something down at the shrine that I have to check.

"I don't think disappearing quickly is an indicator of being forever." I say very slowly. "But I don't think it's a sign of not being forever either."

Kiba huffs, his eyes drooping sleepily. "Neechan, you're saying weird stuff again."

"I'll just tell you about the shinobi named Gawain and the time he killed a dragon and saved a princess, alright?"

"Alright." He nods with his eyes closed. "Saving princesses 's good."

The meeting and then our race has really tired him out. Kiba barely makes it through half of the story before he completely falls asleep.

I stay there with him for another twenty minutes, and then I wriggle out from under his arm and slip on my sandals for a walk down to the shrine.

* * *

There's no one on the steps when I make my way there, but the heavy oak door is open just a crack, and I can smell the sweet scent of incense wafting into the air outside. The summer air is cooler now, and far off, I can hear the baying of the hounds.

I push the door open completely and step in.

Okami's statue is awash in the light of the moon from the windows high above. There's a lit stick of incense on his altar.

White hair.

Golden eyes.

Red fangs.

Dressed in traditional clothing. But that's just _illogical,_ isn't it?

"I wouldn't say so, Little Wolf." The words are soft, quiet,

I spin around.

He's standing in the shadows, but he's still clearly visible anyway. The statue really is a stunning likeness, from how he wears his hair to the hilt of the sword at his hip. " _Okami-sama?_ "

He smiles, fangs flashing in the moonlight. "Just Jiji, Little Wolf."

The air doesn't feel heavy, which is very different than what I've been told about being in the presence of a kami. But this is a kami, the same kami whose likeness is depicted so accurately in our family shrine. I can feel the conviction wrap its way down around my bones.

He sits down on one of the tatami mats and pats the space beside him like an invitation.

If a god is offering, who am I to refuse? I go to sit beside him.

"You were so worried about who Kiba had met." He doesn't sit in seiza, or even cross legged. Instead, he sits with an arm wrapped around a knee drawn up so far that it nearly brushes his chest. "I thought it might be nice to call you down here tonight so you wouldn't worry anymore."

This close, I can feel the difference that Kiba had mentioned. Okami does not smell like a living person, but rather like earth that has been created by a jutsu without a single living organism within it. "But why?"

I hadn't been a religious person before, but I am sitting in the family shrine with the family deity, so I suppose my situation will have to recategorized as at least someone who recognizes that gods are real.

"I do check in on my family." His voice rumbles like evening thunder, there and not completely there all at once. "And Kiba used to speak to my statue rather more often than most little boys." He turns one jaundiced eye in my direction. "Not to mention, Little Wolf, you've asked me for something more than once only to take it back the next moment."

 _What have I-oh._

 _Could you help Toku and Koma-senpai and Haya-senpai? Can you make sure that Kaa-san makes up with her brothers? Could you kick Danzo down a well? Could you change Itachi's destiny? Could you have Sensei recover faster? Can you make Kakashi better?_

 _If you think I'm asking for too much from you today, could you give me the power do it on my own?_

The god beside me laughs and ruffles my hair with a light hand. He sounds like Kiba when he's laughing, or he would, if Kiba was a grown man and not a little boy.

"We're your family?" The legends do say that we are, but the skeptic in me hadn't entirely internalised that idea.

"My daughter's family." His eyes trace the statue of the black wolf with something like sorrow. "Yasuka always had faith."

In that moment, Okami isn't an all powerful god. He is just a man whose daughter is lost to the sands of time. _His son too. And...his wife as well?_

 _All of them are lost to him now?_

 _He has not seen them for long at least, and that is not by his design._ Outside, the baying of the dogs is louder now.

"Jiji, why are you really here?" I cover up a yawn. He had said it was because Kiba speaks to his statue more than other little boys, but I doubt it is the full truth. Other clan members have prayed to Okami.

I don't think anyone other than Kiba and I have met our ancestor. At least, not in living memory.

My eyelids are heavy. It is late.

The scent of the incense is thick.

"Change, Little Wolf." Okami says. I hear him from very far away, through still water. "I can taste it in the wind."

I wake the next morning at dawn in my own bed, tucked in next to Kiba. There is a half burnt stick of incense propped up against a stack of books on my table.

* * *

It is Sunday, so I don't have to go anywhere. I bid Kiba, Akamaru, Kaa-san and Kuromaru goodbye after breakfast.

Shortly afterwards, the Triplets stagger in to crash into a pile together onto a tatami mat.

"How did it go?" I ask as I wash the breakfast dishes.

"The hunt was _amazing._ " Ichi sighs. "We should totally go again."

San rolls over, a dopey smile on his face. "Yes."

Ni pushes Ichi over a little so that he occupies a little more of the tatami mat. "Yeah, but Hana should come next time."

I half suspect that they've been at a rave all night.

As it is, their breathing evens into sleep before I finish the breakfast dishes.

I head out for the banks of the Nakano river with a bucket and a trowel. Deidara had suggested white clay from the Ishikigami River, but since that's in Iwa, I will make do with the red clay I can find in Konoha without importing.

Clay has more cohesive properties than most types of earth. That's what makes the explosive nature of channeling raiton chakra through it so powerful, or at least, Deidara has drawn me a doodle suggesting such a thing. It's a rather violent doodle with...sparks and stars and several stick figures with x's over their eyes.

It's something Deidara would find funny, I agree.

The second thing I learn about clay, is that it's really rather heavy. Red clay in particular it would seem, dries rather hard so I had to lean down to actually wade in the river to get to enough of it that I could actually dig up.

Still, I do manage my first bucketful of clay and carting it home within the hour with a great deal of success.

I have a small block of it out on my table as I roll it out with a spare rolling pin when Cousin Shin comes to call. _Deidara says in his notes that he generally imbibes chakra twice, once with an extra dose of earth as he's forming the clay shell and again when he tosses the clay at someone._

 _The reason that needs to occur is because the first imbibing process helps with locating the clay piece again even when it's not in hand._ It could potentially be very interesting.

He sneaks his head in around my door. "Hana-hime? You're wanted in the Uchiha District."

I dust the clay shavings off of me. "Which house?" _I do hope Kiba didn't break something while whitewashing Uruchi-baasan's fence today..._

"Sasuke's." Cousin Shin shrugs. "It seems like there's a visitor who wants to meet you or something. Shisui wasn't clear about it when he was talking."

"Alright." I put the rolling pin away in the same desk drawer that I keep Deidara's notes. "Give me a moment to wash my hands."

Cousin Shin nods.

* * *

There doesn't _look_ like there's anything wrong with the Uchiha house when I pass the garden gate, but then, I've learned that there can be plenty wrong without it looking that way after so many years of living with Kiba.

That one time I'd sat down in a broken chair-the truly many many times I've done this-will tell me truthfully that just because it doesn't look broken doesn't mean it isn't.

My little brother is very good at putting back the pieces and cleaning up his messes without actually fixing the things he's broken.

"Mikoto-san?" I call as I set my shoes down in the foyer. "I'm here?"

"Ah, there you are, Hana-chan!" She hurries out of the parlor that I know for sure never gets used when there are normal guests around. "There's a young man here that's been waiting a while to see you."

A young man looking for me inside the Uchiha district? "Who?"

Mikoto-san smiles. "Kiba-kun dragged him in this morning while calling him Ya-nii. He was covered in whitewash, the poor dear."

Ya...nii.

Yasino-nii?

Covered in whitewash? Kiba was supposed to be whitewashing the bakery fence today.

"Has he sufficiently recovered from the slight?" I ask Mikoto-san rather faintly. So Yasino-nii's met my exuberant little brother, and somehow gotten a can of whitewash dumped over him.

I can imagine that going over...well. _How on earth did Asuma and Chiriku let that happen to the Daimyo of Fire Country? Aren't they supposed to be guardian ninja?_

 _Don't tell me Kiba's pranks can evade even ranking ninja now?_

"Oh, he was perfectly polite about it all." Mikoto-san pushes me toward the door of the parlor gently. "Don't keep Kiba's new friend waiting."

Ah, no help for it then. I head in.

"...and so that's how we declared war on cats with paintballs." Kiba's making wide, fluid gestures as he mimes the act of throwing something, sitting at the table on my right.

Sasuke's also gesturing rather wildly across the table from Kiba. "No, no, Kiba-nii, you forgot that one time where we couldn't catch a cat. It was a brown one with a bow on its head. That's important."

And there, in between them is Yasino-nii dressed in a plain green haori and dark hakama pants, which _are_ copiously stained with whitewash. Ino's asleep in his lap despite the half argument that's occurring between my younger brothers.

Asuma and Chiriku are nowhere in sight.

I wonder exactly how competent they are to have let the Daimyo out of their sight in a ninja village, even one that is generally friendly to civilians. Konoha isn't as safe as people would like to think it is.

Or at least, it isn't to civilians.

Yasino-nii glances at me, his stormy eyes faintly amused as he casually waves a paper fan back and forth. "This is fascinating." He murmurs. "Why were you trying to catch my — Tora again?" He catches himself so well that I don't think either Sasuke or Kiba notices.

"Tora?" Kiba slaps a horrified hand over his mouth. "That dumb cat has a _name?_ "

Yasino-nii grimaces. "Yes, the Daimyo's mother's cat has a name."

It's a strange turn of phrase for me, something not settling quite right until I remember that Madam Shinji is no longer the Daimyo's wife.

Yasino-nii is Daimyo now, and that comes with differences, little ripples, even if it's just the possessive pronouns referring to a hated cat.

"That cat belongs to _royalty?_ " Sasuke cries, Kiba's horror mirrored on his face.

Yasino nods.

"But it's so…" Kiba and Sasuke trail off as they see me.

"Neechan!" Kiba bounces over to me. "This is Ya-nii! He says he knows you!" He wrinkles his nose and leans in so he can whisper in my direction. "And that he's my Oniisan, but I dunno about the whole part of that one."

At least Kiba's whispering is inaudible to the normal human ear. I take comfort in small mercies, because I don't think Yasino-nii would be much pleased with the idea that my little brother doubts his regard for me and mine. "He _is_ your Oniisan." I whisper back as I ruffle his hair. "Be good for him and don't dump him in a can of whitewash next time."

It's evident that Kiba's posse has no idea who they've managed to prank this time.

I suppose that I must be thankful that Yasino-nii is no longer so prickly as the first time I met him, or else this meeting with Kiba will have ended very badly, rather than with an amused Daimyo and three clueless children.

"Okay." Kiba chirps as he and Sasuke gather Ino between them. "We'll go out to the lake now." The three of them scamper off.

"How did you meet my otouto?" I ask as I sit down.

The corners of Yasino-nii's lips curl up into a faint smile. "Well, you see…" He huffs a laugh into his hand. "I've never been to Konoha before, so imagine my surprise when I found a little boy with your fangs chasing after my mother's cat."

"But Asuma and Chiriku didn't follow you?" It still doesn't follow that they would let Yasino-nii wander around by himself.

"I might have decided to leave them behind in the Konoha Residence." He sighs. "I do need some peace and quiet _sometime._ The daimyo is afforded no such luxuries."

I resist the urge to tell him that doing so is highly irresponsible and dangerous to his personal wellbeing. He's probably heard it a million times, and will hear it again from Asuma and Chiriku when they find him again.

That's the problem with protecting a civilian — they don't have a large chakra signature that's easy to search for.

"I was also looking for you." Yasino-nii waves a hand in front of my face. "I scared the Council for you. They should be falling over themselves to please you now. Unfortunately, I still can't deal with my retainers."

I blink at him. "Can't you threaten them with unemployment?"

He makes a face at this. "While it would be pleasant to threaten them, some of them do have political common sense if not any true sense. They know I can't afford to offend all of the clans at once."

"Then just throw out the ones that most egregiously offend your ability to be a human being instead of a clay doll." I will miss Yasino-nii when he leaves to return to Kakunodate for Bon.

It will likely be the last I see of him for a very long time, given that I have no travel plans to go back to the Capital and little actual motivation to go there for much of any reason.

"Hmmm." He considers it for a long moment. "Perhaps." He taps his fingers on the table. "You know, I didn't realize that Hatake Kakashi wasn't actually a vassal of your family, or that —" He gestures about. "Your living situation was quite so...strange."

I blink at him again. "How so?"

"Well, your otouto — his name is Kiba, isn't it?" I don't get the time to nod or confirm that this is true. "Says that you were at home, but the other boy — Sasuke, I think it was — insisted that this is your home and you were also _his_ Neechan somehow...and then his mother didn't say that you were his daughter, but rather her husband's daughter… You see why I am confused, now?" He leans over to pinch my cheek fondly. "Explain your family to me, little sister."

I laugh and bat at his hand. "Alright! Alright! I'll explain the world of shinobi to you."

He settles into a cross-legged position instead of seiza. "Do tell." He drawls slowly. "I'd love to hear it."

* * *

I wake on the morning of Bon to new clothes Kaa-san had commissioned a seamstress to make in the shopping district.

Obon is not like my Ascension. The Winter Festival is when we announce a new clan Heiress, then, we celebrate the connections and bonds shared between family members who had danced around each other for far too long. We celebrated the shared strength of the pack, of people who are united.

Here at Obon, we celebrate the dead. We celebrate our ancestry, those who had come before us, as we hope to be celebrated when we return to clay.

With that in mind, all the girls wear rosemary in their hair. We wear no jewelry, no bright colors, just muted browns, greens, and grays.

The first day of Obon is the day when we sweep the graves of the dead, tending to what might be overgrown or overlooked during the course of the summer. We plant winter flowers on all the graves on this day as well. We pay attention to those of immediate family, but further, we pay our respects to those graves that no longer have immediate family to tend to them.

No one deserves to be forgotten by their clan, and while Kaa-san does keep the registry detailing birth, death, and marriage, there is so much of our dead who no longer have anyone to mourn them specifically.

It is a somber thought.

 _Inuzuka Yoshiko. Dead at nineteen. Inuzuka Kanami. Dead at twenty-one. Inuzuka Kyosuke. Dead at seventeen. Inuzuka Enmei. Dead at age thirty-seven. Inuzuka Haru, twenty-two…_

And on and on and on and on it goes, members of my family who would be middle-aged or older now that I have never met. Young men and women who had never had the chance to retire or marry or live out their lives.

I had noted once, years ago that there were many Inuzuka names on the memorial stone, but I had not fully comprehended the loss then. Seeing so many stones cared for by distant family members who couldn't even recall one fact about the one who was buried beneath their feet brings a raw ache to my chest.

There are so many lost pack members, so many people I'd never had the chance to meet, so many lives cut short.

"But why?" I ask Kaa-san when we have a spare moment alone in front of Ojiisan and Obaasan's graves. "Why are so many of our dead so young?" We do live in a hidden village, but I still don't think this distribution is normal.

"We lost a lot of clan during the second war." Kaa-san sighs. "A lot of Kosshi-neesan's friends, a lot of the older generation...Kumo had personally attacked us…" She sighs, a harsh, mournful noise. "Your Ojiisan was a popular man. We couldn't take that sitting down."

No, our love runs too strong and too deep for that.

I can half understand it, even if I don't want to. How terrible must it be to have lost, and lost and lost again? Every time war comes to Konoha, we lose. Everytime. The Second War came and took Obaasan and Ojiisan. The Third War came and took Uncle Kouga. The Kyuubi Attack five years ago took Kosshi-basan.

It is at this moment that I remember something else. Tou-san might have been clanless, but he had parents, didn't he? "Kaa-san?"

She looks like she's far away, but she pulls herself back to earth. "Yeah, Little Nose?"

"Are Tou-san's parents' graves in Konoha?" It is a strange thing to ask, but I doubt that they have people to care for them, to tell them that they are not forgotten or universally hated even though it may seem that way.

I don't even know their names.

"His Okaasan is." Kaa-san pauses for a long moment as if on the edge of some precipice. "She was buried in the Shimura graveyard. He never mentioned his Otousan with me, but he often spoke about Shimura-san. They were very close."

This is conversation is just full of landmines, one after another.

One of my grandmothers is buried on the Shimura clan grounds. Kaa-san had just told me that Tou-san and _Shimura Danzo_ were close.

I'd known he was Danzo's apprentice, and that in some way, Danzo thinks of him still, but not this close, not the buried a not clan immigrant from Iwa in Danzo's backyard sort of close.

"Do you think Shishou would mind if I go to visit?" I ask rather faintly. "I don't know about his visiting policy."

Kaa-san gives me a nudge forward. "He won't mind. He's been waiting to meet you for a long time."

This would cause a chill to go down my back, but I've been hit over the head with far too much information for that tidbit to truly sink in. "What?" I ask again, still rather absently. "Why would he do that?"

"He's your godfather, Little Nose."

Now this is just surreal. Shimura Danzo, the kidnapper of little children, the darkness of shinobi, and the destabilizer of nations my _godfather?_ "But I thought...that Sensei was my godfather?" I'd thought so, but why had I thought that? "Because Kiho-bachan is my godmother."

Kaa-san frowns. "No, we didn't want to burden our friends more than necessary. They weren't even married then, and life was hard for all of us." She crouches down so she can look me in the eye. "You were born under the shadow of the third war, Hana. We didn't want to risk leaving you with no one to love you as well as we did, and however stuffy Shimura-san is, he wouldn't have died and left you alone in this world if he had a single breath left in his body." She pulls me close. "Okami knows he never left Kai."

I'm left at a loss of what to think. What does it mean — about Danzo, about Kaa-san, about me — that my parents trusted Danzo so much? I spent a good deal of my early childhood keeping my head down because I was afraid of being kidnapped and forced into ROOT, but — if I would have been ward of Shimura Danzo should my parents die, then he's never wanted me for ROOT.

Guardianship of a child goes directly to godparents before any other relatives in the absence of parents. That's why godparents are chosen with such care.

I know that he is not to be trusted. I know that he has done terrible things, is most likely doing terrible things as I stand here, and will continue to ruin people's lives in the future, but — but Kaa-san and Tou-san trusted him implicitly.

 _He wouldn't have left you alone in this world if he had a single breath left in his body._

What does it mean? What can it mean? I cannot make sense of it.

So instead, I do what I do when the thoughts get to crowded for my head. I call the Triplets to my side, and we go for a run.

* * *

My run takes me into the shadow of the cliffs. It is a small shadow now that it is nearly midday. I am close to the Shimura Residence, but when I pass by, the gate is orange with rust, and the yard looks like it has not been touched in years.

It looks like a house more for the dead than the living, brick crumbling, roof sagging, porch slumped.

I back away. _I suppose I will have to visit Shishou if I want to visit._ But if I visit Shishou, then I will have to look at him, and know that he's lied to me repeatedly about his vested interest in me.

What is his interest in me anyway? He has never struck me as the type of man to like children, and yet, he keeps a brainwashed child army around here somewhere.

He has never struck me as the type to agree to being a godfather, yet Kaa-san tells me he is mine.

Godparents are supposed to play a special role in a child's life. In many cases, their claim to an orphan's guardianship is stronger than an aunt or an uncle's. They accept responsibility for a child who is not their own.

Why would Shimura Danzo accept such responsibility for me? There were many other ways he could have inducted me into ROOT, but if he had accepted this role before I was born or just after, then he never intended me for ROOT at all.

Why is my grandmother buried in the Shimura Cemetery? Did he know her? He had to have known her. Did he care for her and Tousan? He had to have, but what I knew of Shimura Danzo said he never cared for anything other than Konoha.

And yet, if he is a man, then he's had to have cared for someone over the course of his life.

Just because people do terrible things doesn't mean they don't care for anyone, but I cannot understand it.

I stand there for a long time. So long, in fact, that the Triplets are getting impatient. "Hana." Ni nudges me with his nose. "What are you doing? Aren't we running?"

I huff at him. "I'm thinking."

San yawns. "What about?"

"Our pack." If Shimura Danzo is my godfather, and Okami that is a strange thought, then he is in some way _family._

"Why are we standing outside of this place to do it?" Ichi's tail swishes back and forth. "Is this place special?"

"Tou-san." I say at last. "Has not explained very much about himself at all." Granted, I was young when he left us, so he most likely thought he had more time to explain everything, but I had never heard him mention an Elder Shimura.

For all intents and purposes, my modest father had acted like every other career chunin with an in village job. He'd go to the research labs in the morning and return for dinner preparations in the afternoon.

But the more I learn about him, the more I piece together the stories of him from the people he left behind, the more I can't believe that career chunin was all he was.

"Hana-hime?" It's Fu, standing in the middle of the street, wearing for once, what seems to be normal clothing.

If I was ever confident that he didn't have the ability to kill me without my notice before, it would have been ruthlessly shattered now. I didn't even hear him approach, and it doesn't look like he did it intentionally.

"Fu?" Still, I don't believe he _will_ kill me, if only because the look on his face is the same as the one Kasuga wears when he thinks I'm not looking. I don't know why this is, given that ROOT agents are supposed to be emotionless, and Yamanaka Fu is most certainly _not._

Also, perhaps being Danzo's goddaughter prevents one from being killed by a ROOT agent while one's brain is checked out.

Ni shoves his cold, wet nose under Fu's hand. "I like this one. He's nice." I'm not sure in what world Fu could be described as merely nice instead of _merciless_ or _wooden_ , but if Ni thinks he's nice, he probably is, under the surface of all the ROOT brainwashing.

"Danzo-sama wants to know why you are standing outside his house." Fu blinks several times in quick succession at Ni as if wondering if the dog beneath his fingertips would disappear in a poof of smoke, as if Ni's friendliness is some sort of gotcha. "He does not live here anymore, if you are looking for him."

"It's Obon." I reply. "Tou-san's okaasan is buried here. I wanted to, to visit."

Fu blinks again. I'm sure it's not what he expected me to say. "Perhaps speaking to Danzo-sama would be the best course of action."

I can't escape it, so I don't. "Are you the one who guards Shishou's house?" Even if Danzo doesn't live in the Shimura Residence, I can see him sending someone to guard it. Who knows what he keeps in his — family house that's falling down because there's no family left to live in it — last stronghold.

"No." Fu pats Ni on the head gingerly. "I don't guard Danzo-sama's house. That job belongs to Hinoe."

"Then why did you come get me?" I'm tempted to ask him what his actual job description is, but I doubt he's capable of telling me that.

"Because—" He chokes up in the middle of the street, and normally, this is when Cousin Gaku stops talking, but Fu continues, throat spasming painfully.

"Fu!" I grab him by the elbows. "You don't have to tell me." _He can't tell me why he was the one to come and get me, but he's willing to kill himself trying? Why on earth would he do something like this?_

He immediately stops choking. "I'm sorry, Hana-hime." And he actually looks abashed, as if he meant to tell me exactly why he'd been the one to come get me, or choke himself to death while trying.

"You don't need to apologize." It's not his fault that his employer is a madman with dark ambitions who also happens to be my godfather.

It's not his fault that his employer is a madman with dark ambitions who also happens to be my godfather.

It's not his fault.

* * *

I had always thought that Shishou would be the type of person who wouldn't celebrate Obon. Still, it is strange to be right. He's still in his office in the Tower, looking at papers when I arrive.

"Enter." He sets the papers down when I arrive. "Hinoe tells me you were at my house."

Ah, straight to the heart of the matter. At least, he's not playing games about this.

Now if only I can get everything I want to say out of my throat in a respectable manner. "It's Obon." I say at last.

Shishou raises an eyebrow. "I'm not buried yet, Inuzuka-kun."

He reminds me of someone at this moment — a sharp smile, a raised eyebrow, a half mocking look in his eyes that is unfamiliar and yet not at the same time…

Tou-san.

That is the expression Tou-san wore when someone made a stupid statement. It was most often addressed to Sensei.

My face burns, but I have no further recourse, no place to run to, so the only way I can go is forward. "Kaa-san said that ObaasanisburiedintheShimuraCemeteryandit'sbonsoIthoughtIshouldvisitbutIdidn'tknowifitwouldbeokay."

I speak so fast I nearly trip over the words in an effort to get them all out before I lose all nerve completely.

A very long silence follows in which I consider the consequences of my actions. There are still so many questions burning on the tip of my tongue. _Are you my godfather? How much did you care about Tousan? Why would you accept being anyone's godfather, much less mine?_

 _How much humanity can be distilled into a soul? How much humanity does someone lose when they do terrible things?_

 _Where's the line between being a human and being a monster?_

Shishou sighs. "You're welcome to visit the cemetery if that's what you want to do."

"Kaa-san said something else too." I cannot stop my tripping tongue. I cannot stop it, and I'm not really sure that I'm trying to.

"Mmm?" He folds his hands together on his desk. "What did Tsume-chan say?"

Tsume-chan. He called Kaa-san Tsume-chan, which he has never done before during Council Meetings, but that's to be expected isn't it? If Kaa-san is a clan head, and he is an honorable elder, it wouldn't be right to call her Tsume-chan, but if—

Oh, I can't think about this now. I can't.

"That you were…" I don't know why I am afraid to say it. Kaa-san would never lie to me about something like this, and if it was true then I have nothing to be afraid of except his temper, which is admittedly something to be afraid of, but, but I ought _not be afraid._ "That you were my godfather. That Tou-san's Okaasan is buried on your clan grounds. That—"

* * *

 **A.N.** And thus we begin a new arc. This one will be a short one. (At least, I think it's going to be short.)

This chapter is to celebrate the one year anniversary of Bloodless. This time last year, I was still a high school student struggling to apply to University, while right now, I'm sitting in on campus in between classes. (We started early.) There's been a lot that went on IRL during this past year, and Hana's adventures have also grown in scope during this last year.

It's been a wild ride so far you guys and I couldn't have done it without you. As of this moment, Bloodless has over 300,000 words, 74 chapters, 1,600 followers, 1, 400 favorites, and exactly 1100 reviews. Thank you so much to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, and read Bloodless and Ashen. I've loved hearing from all of you, and I've probably read every single review at least twice. It means a lot to me.

I know that my writing has slowed down a lot in the recent months. I used to do daily updates, if anyone new reading this believes it. As it is, I've become much busier in real life, and I've started several other works in progress which also demand my time. Never fear though, writing has always been, and will continue to be my passion.

I hope everyone who is reading right now is as happy and hopeful about the future as I am. There's a lot more of this story left to be written. I thank you for following along for 74 chapters

Thank you so much everyone.

~Tavina


	75. Days of the Dead Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

"—That you care." I finish smaller than I begin. _What was I thinking? Why would I ever—_

Shishou snorts. "Of course, I care." He rises to his feet. "I suppose I should be surprised that Tsume-chan has waited this long to tell you."

"But _why?_ " I shouldn't push further. It's already surprising that this hasn't blown up in my face, but I can't help it. I have to know why.

"Did we not have this conversation before?" Shishou moves towards the door, and I can only woodenly follow him. "No one lives forever." _But we may all leave a legacy._

I am his legacy.

I am his goddaughter.

I am...Inuzuka Hana. But who is Inuzuka Hana really? What other secrets live beneath my skin, in my blood, in the nebulous past that brought me to life as the daughter of Inuzuka Tsume and Iwa no Kaito?

I had always thought that the truth of my parents was written in stone, but even stone may be broken.

Tou-san was not who I thought he was, and I thought that I knew all of his stories.

But did I know him really?

If I do not know him, who do I truly know?

If I do not know myself, who can I say I know?

My foot catches on the side railing of the stairs, and I pitch forwards.

One split second, I curse my own inattention, and then the next a lifetime of training as a ninja kicks in, and I catch myself before I land headfirst at the bottom of the staircase.

I pause there for a long moment, balanced precariously, my right hand with a death grip on the railing as I struggle to find my balance.

Shishou's outstretched hand drops to his side.

"I'm fine." I do my best to smile. "I wasn't paying attention."

"That much is obvious." A half raised eyebrow, the slightest hint of a mocking smile, how did I not _see_ it before? It is so obvious now. These familiar expressions are merely on an unfamiliar face. And if what Kaa-san told me was true, then they were originally Shimura Danzo's expressions to begin with.

Like father, like son.

But Shimura Danzo is not my grandfather, is not my father's father. He is...something to Tou-san, though I don't know what, and it is difficult to ever know. I can't find it within myself to ask.

"Where are we going?" We are out now, in the nearly deserted streets. The cemetery is crowded during Obon, and then for the most part people keep to their clan districts and houses if they do not have clans.

"It is Obon." Shishou does not turn to look at me. "It is only appropriate that we are visiting a grave." He unlatches the rusted gate and slowly makes his way around the crumbling house.

The Shimura graveyard is small, perhaps no more than twenty people. For someone who comes from a clan of nearly three hundred, the difference is jarring. At the very end of the third row is one a little apart from the rest, the most recent to be buried here.

"Iwa no Kimiko." I read. So that is the name of my obaasan. Kimiko. Noble. Beautiful. What was she like? How had she ended up here? She had died twenty two years ago, twelve years before I was born. Who was she?

"Before you ask," I turn back to look at Shishou, who does not seem comfortable standing here among the dead. "I did not know her."

"You didn't?" She is buried here among his family, in a memorial of the Shimura clan which is now long gone besides the old man next to me. How could he have let an outsider be buried here if he didn't know anything about her?

He doesn't sound like he's lying though. Who did he bury her here for?

 _Her only child. His only apprentice._

 _Iwa no Kaito._

 _It could only have been for Tou-san._

"She died the night she came here." This conversation, it would seem, is closed. "I did not know her."

"I see." My eyes trace the name again. It seems that Iwa no Kimiko is lost to the sands of time. I have more questions than I have answers.

I have all the legacy of the dead, a blood tie to this woman through her son, but I have no one to tell me who she was, or what she was like, what she loved, what she hated, I have nothing but her name.

If I am her only granddaughter, then am I also her legacy?

The blood of so many generations before lives in me. Do their hopes and aspirations and dreams live with me as well? Does the weight of their expectations rest on my shoulders?

There were so many who died young in the Inuzuka graveyard. I had never met a single one of my grandparents.

Kaa-san left me my fangs and my pride and my inability to hold my tongue. Tou-san left me my straight nose, my compassion, and my inability to turn away.

What else have the people who walked this road before me left for me to find? What other history have I inherited without understanding its intricacies and its costs?

I was born ten years ago into a moving web instead of a static picture. Who else knows my inheritance better than I know myself?

Shishou turns away and starts walking. "It does no good to dwell on the dead."

"Wait!" I catch his sleeve.

He does pause without ripping the fabric away from my grasp.

He looks like he's seen a ghost.

It must have been something that Tou-san did once upon a time. Now I see more than I did before, and now I understand that there were many times like these when I do things that remind him of a young man who is long gone.

His nostalgia is for the dead.

"Won't you come to see Tou-san?" He has not, in my memory, ever been to Tou-san's grave. But he had to have cared about him, because I have nothing to recommend me to Shimura Danzo beyond being Iwa no Kaito's daughter.

He is not godfather to anyone else, but that has nothing to do with anything that I have done. If I was someone else's daughter, he would not care. I might even be dead for my presumption, for my brash nature, for a hundred thousand other things that I do not understand. But I am Iwa no Kaito's daughter; I am Shimura Danzo's apprentice, and I am very much alive.

He has been lenient with me, this much I know. Only because, only because of the blood I share with a young man who died too early and too soon for the people he left behind to understand his legacy. Shimura Danzo is just another person Tou-san left behind, even if I did not know it until today.

He does not answer me, but at the gate he turns in the direction of home. I walk beside him in silence.

* * *

No one is made of stone. No one is made of stone, but watching Shishou kneel down with a stick of incense before Tou-san's grave only drives that home. He is not made of stone.

Even Shimura Danzo grieves. _What's the difference between a man and a monster?_

 _Even monsters grieve._

"Kai." He raises a hand to trace the name on the stone. Inuzuka Kaito.

My Tou-san had been Kai to him, not that he had ever told me.

Why would he tell me such a thing though? What right do I have to demand to know such a thing? Whatever is between them, it is not something I can casually demand to know. I might have seen this story, but I do not know all of it.

The Shimura Danzo I'd thought I'd known is not the same old man who kneels here. The Shimura Danzo I thought I knew would never kneel. The Uchiha Fugaku I'd thought I'd known is not the same man I'd called Chichi with a laugh and a smile. The Uchiha Fugaku I thought I knew is cold to the core.

I might have seen this story, but did I see it really, or was it all just a dream from another world?

The characters I'd seen are not the people I've met, though they might share similarities. Some secrets I am privy to from having read the script, some secrets I cannot hope to know until I live them myself.

Real life is infinitely harder to navigate than the rise and fall of a story.

 _You are not in a fictional world. This is your life._

 _Put away what you think you know._

 _Even Shimura Danzo grieves._

Kaa-san makes her way through the rows. "I'd given up hope of ever seeing you here again, Shimura-san."

"I was invited." He comments dryly. "Rest assured, you'll never have to see me here again, Tsume-chan."

Kaa-san laughs, half a grimace, half a bark. "All these years, a lifetime, and you still can't stand letting anyone know that you ever loved anything."

Shishou climbs to his feet. "And you still can't stand keeping the world in the dark about what you love and what you hate." He starts to walk away.

"Shimura-san," Kaa-san calls after him. "Come visit him again soon."

Shishou doesn't respond, just walks away with slow, measured steps. It still feels like he's running away.

"He misses you." Kaa-san whispers to the space he leaves behind.

It's unlike Kaa-san to speak like this, but Bon is about the dead, and in our house, the dead loom large.

"Where's Kiba?" The Triplets have followed their relatives out to grieve their own dead ever since I re-entered the cemetery with Shishou, but I haven't seen my otouto since I before left on my run.

"He's out with the Uchiha boys to visit Yashiro." Kaa-san waves a hand in the direction of the Uchiha Compound. "Shisui and Sasuke came around for him half an hour ago."

"I see."

Kaa-san ruffles my hair. "Bon is about the living as much as it is about the dead, Little Nose. We've so much family to support us. We'll be alright." She smiles, though she's not all in it. "Did you see your Obaasan?"

I nod. "Iwa no Kimiko." I smile, though I'm not all in it either. "Shishou couldn't tell me about her."

"I suspected as much." Kaa-san squeezes my shoulder. "Chin up, Little Nose. It's not the end of the world."

I nod. "Un."

Kaa-san and I pause to look back at Tou-san, at the flowers Shishou had left for him. White lilies. White Chrysanthemums. Innocence. Grief.

"Kegawa-nii and Teiru-nii's families will come over for dinner tonight." We walk together back towards the house. "I told them to bring food, since I'm a horrible cook."

I giggle at this. "Kaa-san, how did my uncles react to such a thing?"

The corner of Kaa-san's mouth quirks up. "With much ado and grumbling."

* * *

I'm sitting on the porch, waiting for Kiba to get back from putting flowers on Uchiha Yashiro's grave when Guruko squeezes through the gap under the garden fence the Triplets had dug last week when they were bored.

"Guruko?" He's looking for me, I can tell by the way his nose is close to the ground, but he'd have a hard time finding me with all the relatives who've been by to pay their respects.

We'd be difficult for even the best nose to distinguish when we're all together.

At home, everything smells like a blend of everyone who lives here.

"Hana!" He hurries over as fast as his legs would allow when he spots me. "Hana, you've got to come with me."

"Dinner will be ready soon." There's nothing I absolutely have to be at tonight, but Cousin Ashi is making dinner now, and it'll be ready any moment.

"We've got to hurry. It's about Boss."

I'm on my feet the next instant, a hole opening up in my stomach.

It's the days of the dead, and Kakashi's got a lot of people to grieve.

"Where is he?" I whistle for the Triplets, and Ni barks an affirmation I barely hear as I breeze past the garden gate and down the street. "How is he?"

"At Konoha's main cemetery." Guruko pants as he struggles to keep up. How long has he been trying to find me?

 _Not the memorial stone._

 _Why not the—_

 _Sakumo-san isn't there._

He's at the cemetery because that's where his father is.

Just the thought of that chills me despite the muggy nature of the August evening.

I take to the rooftops.

I don't know what I'm afraid of really. I've always known that Kakashi has scars, and that he grieves near constantly.

But he's gotten better recently. He'd lent me his father's scrolls on Raiton jutsu.

He's stopped running.

He's stopped running, but what does that mean now that he's back in front of his father's grave?

"Kakashi?" I don't know where Hatake Sakumo's grave is among the near endless rows of gray markers.

I can only thank Okami that they are not a blinding, eye-catching white.

"Kakashi?" The Triplets dog my heels as I continue onward, searching for Kakashi among the myriad of scents. There's been more visitors than normal today, but Kakashi's sought out the graveyard in the half twilight, when most people have gone home. He wants to be here alone. His grief isn't supposed to be on display.

"This way." Guruko points the way for me, still panting. "Boss is that way."

I head off, sprinting down the rows.

I don't hear whatever else Guruko has to say.

 _Kakashi, where—_

 _There._

He's standing with his back to me in the dusky air, the setting sun leaving nothing but fading pink streaks in a gray sky. His shoulders are hunched, and he's staring down at the gray stone before him.

He's not in danger of doing something stupid then.

I breath out, long and slow.

He has to know I'm here. He's always aware of the people around him.

He'll acknowledge me when he's ready.

There's no reason to disturb him here. None at all, because if he's come back to see his father, then it means in some small way, that he's ready to walk forward again. Only when we can bear to look back at the past without visceral pain can we choose to walk forward.

He'll turn around to speak to me when he's ready. I withdraw the chakra from my ears. Whatever he needs to say to his father is private.

"Hana?" He asks after even the fading pink streaks in the sky are gone. "Did the pack try to fetch you here again?"

I walk forward so that I'm by his side, though I don't look up. "They worry about you, you know."

He slides his hand in mine. "I know." His voice breaks. "I know."

I look up at him. He doesn't look _good_ , but neither does he look like he's about to lose his grip on this reality. "I worry about you, you know." The first thing my mind had gone to when I heard he was here was the casual disregard he has for his own life.

I worry for him. Every word is the truth.

He swallows and squeezes my hand. "I know."

There are flowers on the grave before us. Asphodel. _I'm sorry._ Kakashi's sorry.

Ichi bumps his nose against Kakashi's other hand, and San squeezes in between us. "We care about you too." San pants. "Enough to race all the way here."

Ni whines from his position flopped out on the ground. "All the way here."

Ichi huffs at them. "If you two did more running everything would be fine." He turns up his nose at his brothers. "If you two were more fit, we wouldn't look like such idiots."

Kakashi muffles a laugh. "You three aren't idiots." But an eyeblink later, his cheery mask is back. "I know what we should do!" He singsongs as he swings our hands back and forth. "Hana should take some cooking classes!"

I frown up at him. "You mean, I should make you burnt fish again."

"That's not what I said." He still sound very plastic as we make our way out of the cemetery. "I distinctly remember saying that a certain little puppy ought to take some cooking classes before she kills her teammates by food poisoning."

"That's not very nice." I mutter. "You're the one who keeps wanting to eat burnt fish."

"Do I really?" He strikes a mock thinking pose. "I don't think so."

I jab him in the stomach with my elbow. "Oh, come on. We should just go home. Kaa-san's pushed cooking duty off on my aunts this time, so the food's edible."

I walk another few steps before I realize that he isn't following me. "Kakashi?"

"I'm coming." He sounds a little muffled, which isn't particularly normal, but there's not much I can really say about it, so I say nothing.

I offer him a hand, which he absently takes as he flips another page in his little orange book, and we make our way home in the deepening twilight, Kakashi's pack and the Triplets trailing in our wake.

* * *

"Oh!" Kiba shouts as we make our way into the backyard. "It's the Ossan with lots of dogs!" He races towards us, Akamaru clinging for dear life to the top of his head. "I went to see Yashi today, Neechan!"

"Kiba-chan." I grab him as he takes a flying leap towards me, and we go spinning around in a dizzying path. This is our newest game, after Kiba's discovered that I do indeed have the strength to catch him, but not the strength to prevent our spin. "Kakashi's not old." I attack his sides with my fingers, and he shrieks with laughter.

"Not f-fair, Neechan!" He wriggles so much that our path is a bit wobbly. "S-stop it!"

We're both a little breathless when we finally manage to stop. I lean against the buffet table of food, and Kiba leans against me. "Not an Ossan?" He asks as he scrutinizes Kakashi. "But has gray hair."

I resist the urge to cackle at Kakashi's affronted look. My cousins are not as considerate. Behind him, Kosha absolutely _howls._ Kihaku and Kotsu are no better. They lean on each other and cackle mercilessly. "Is more like a Niisan than an Ossan." I poke Kiba's cheek. "You're making him sad."

"I am not sad." Kakashi mutters as he hides the little that remains on display of his face behind his horrendous choice of literature. "I am irritated by little boys who think I'm falling apart."

"Oh give it up." Kotsu slaps Kakashi on the shoulder. "Our Kiba calls almost every stranger he meets some variant of Ossan. Just be glad he knows you have lots of dogs."

"Knows he's friends with Neechan too!" Kiba protests. "Drew him a picture about it."

Kakashi looks like he wants to sink into the ground, but Kotsu's death grip on his upper arm seems to be preventing his escape. That, or he doesn't want to escape as much as he looks like he does.

She probably couldn't stop him if he truly wanted to get out.

"Oh?" There's an evil glint in Kotsu's eyes. "You'll have to tell me all about it, Hatake- _san_."

Kakashi casts me a glance. "Save me." He mouths in my direction.

"Cousin Kotsu." I slide myself over, still trying to keep my giggles under control. "Wait until after dinner for an interrogation. I'm famished."

She glances over at the heavily laden table. "Hmmm."

I take her moment of distraction to pull Kakashi away from her loosening grip. "So those were the Inuzuka Girls, my cousins, Kotsu, Kihaku, and Kosha, which I'm sure you've met before since they know you. Ashi's the one over there in blue. Uncle Kegawa and Uncle Teiru along with Aunt Miyu and Aunt Misao should be around here somewhere."

"I didn't realise it was family dinner tonight." He's quiet, almost pensive.

The Inuzuka Boys have set up ball games on the other side of the yard. There's a rowdy game going on, one with several balls and two hoops and plenty of dogs.

This is my family.

I shrug. "It's Obon. We like to get together and have fun now that we're alright again."

There's been a split in our family for a long long time, but it's healing now, and this year's Obon celebrations are proof of that.

"I shouldn't intrude."

"Oh nonsense." Aunt Misao comes in from around the corner. "The more the merrier, young man." She grins, fangless teeth flashing in the firelight. Aunt Misao is Uncle Kegawa's wife, one of the few clan members who wasn't born with the fangs. She's not a shinobi at all, has never been and hasn't any desire to be one, which is likely why she doesn't know who Kakashi is.

She'd chosen to get the red tattooed onto her cheeks after she married my uncle, and in the intervening years, she's adopted many of our traditions and our habits. After over twenty-five years of marriage, she looks every inch an Inuzuka. She has our dark hair and dark eyes, our blunt honesty, and our pride.

"I don't want to be a bother…" Kakashi hedges.

"You won't be." Aunt Misao continues grinning as we drag Kakashi towards the table. "In fact, Miyu would be so disappointed if you left. She's already set out a plate and a chair for you."

"If that's the case…" Kakashi seems to be giving. We just need to push him a little further. We're Inuzuka — we can smell the weakness of someone giving in to our demands.

"No one minds." I add as I plop him in the chair next to mine. "We like guests and parties."

"That we do." Cousin Kidate drops into the seat on Kakashi's other side. "We always like to have a good time." He's windswept and sweat stained after the results of the game. The rest of my cousins are coming in now, in various states of muddy disarray.

By the sharp scent of blood in the air, there's been a few scraped knees and bruised elbows. The roughhousing got a little rough today.

"Who won?" I ask him.

He growls half anger, half resignation. "Shin-nii's team. He wins more than he knows what's good for him."

"You said that right." A hand claps Cousin Kidate on the shoulder. "I always win."

I look up. "Cousin Shin, that's not a nice thing to say."

He plops down on my other side. "My otouto can take it." The brothers grin at each other. It seems that they are determined to spend time with us tonight.

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." Cousin Kidate flicks a pea at his elder brother.

And though we're all happy, all smiling, all bright in the firelight, our gathered family feels the absence sharply.

There's an empty space at our table tonight, or there would have been if Kakashi didn't take his seat.

Cousin Gaku did not come home for Bon.

* * *

Kakashi gets more antsy as the night goes on, not that he seems unhappy to be here with my family.

"Did you want to go?" I ask him as a jug of sake gets passed around the table. "Technically, the party ends whenever we want it to end."

He glances over at me. "Would you mind?"

Since when would it stop him if I minded? Still, Bon this year is a strange time. "I don't mind."

I'd only meant to walk him to the edge of the garden, but on the way there I remember that I don't really trust him to entirely okay.

Kakashi's very good at pretending to be okay when he's falling apart inside.

As it is, I tag along after him as he mosys down the street. "Don't you have a family gathering to be attending?" He asks about two blocks down.

"I attended the family gathering already." I don't bother hurrying. It's enough that he's letting me follow him around.

"Shouldn't little puppies be asleep already at this time of night?" He has his hands in his pockets as he slouches down the street, and he's asking me questions that push me away, but if he really wants to avoid me, it would be easy to.

He isn't avoiding me.

He's in that frame of mind when he would rather that I stay, but doesn't believe that he deserves it again.

"Well, this little puppy is trailing after a scarecrow right now." It's not even that late. An hour before midnight isn't that late, and even though I normally have a midnight curfew, I doubt Kaa-san will be freaked out given that she's seen me leave with him.

"What a thankless task." Kakashi drawls and slows down until we're walking side by side. "What a stupid puppy."

"You're my friend." I counter. "And it's Bon."

He eye smiles at me. "Bon is a time for family, Hana-chan!"

"And all of my friends are my family somehow." I've never been very good at making half hearted friends. It's only natural that however unusual our friendship, Kakashi's my family too.

"What sort of family would that be?" He muses, suddenly serious once more.

I shrug. "Does it matter? Pack is pack." Pack is pack is pack is pack is pack, and once you were pack, you never stop being pack.

Isn't that how it goes? What purpose does it serve to define too sharply all the experiences we share?

Kakashi hums as he turns his face up to the round summer moon. "Pack is pack." He finally agrees. "Just so you know, I had plans to meet people tonight." He barely warns me before pulling me into a bar.

"What?" I squawk. "I didn't sign up for this!"

Only then do I notice who's sitting around the table. This is...unusual. Kakashi doesn't normally like parties or many people. This looks like a party.

"Kakashi," A woman interjects from the corner table next to Asuma. "You're late."

He rubs the back of his neck with a gloved hand. "Well you see, Kurenai, I had to stop and help a little puppy with her homework, and then her family ambushed me with dinner, and then oh look at the time, I'm five hours late."

I can only thank all the heavens that I'm wearing my flak jacket today. It's hard to mistake me for an academy student when I'm wearing a hite-ate and a flak jacket.

Dinner had only taken two hours or so.

So that means he spent three hours standing in front of his father's grave. I won't begrudge him of his excuses though. There are some things that aren't meant to be said.

He's really trying to be okay this year.

He's really trying, but that doesn't mean he's actually okay.

"Who's the kid?" A teenager who could only be Anko drawls from Kurenai's other side. "Didn't know you picked up a tagalong."

It's strange to think of the confident, poised, and dangerous Mitarashi Anko as a teenager not much older than me, but that's who she is right now.

 _This is not a story. This is my entire life now._

I sketch the motions of a polite bow. "Inuzuka Hana." I deadpan with one of Kaa-san's killer smiles. "I didn't realize we were keeping Kakashi from you all." It's time for me to quit this place since there are other people to look after Kakashi now.

Even though I'm legally an adult, I'm still not comfortable in bars.

"I thought you were going to follow me all night." Kakashi's hand snakes out and catches me as I try to duck back out. "In fact, I distinctly remember you saying that you weren't going anywhere."

I mock glare at him. "When did I say that?"

"Pack is pack." He singsongs back at me. "Pack is pack is pack is pack is pack."

I frown. "You're very irritating."

The table behind him bursts into side splitting laughter.

"Oi, Kakashi." A man with a spreading scar over his nose and across the side of his face wheezes. "When'd you pick up the Inuzuka Heiress?"

I think about it and cross my arms over my chest. "About seven years ago." And with that happy announcement, I leave only silence ringing in my wake.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so more and more preconceived notions are being dispelled, (there's a hint in the flowers this time.) and Hana spends some time with Kakashi and her family.

On another note, I've survived my first exam cycle in college with good grades, and I'm heading into the second. In the little bit of breathing space I had, this chapter was created. I'm busier than I used to be, but rest assured, nothing is abandoned until I slap giant labels on it with horrified tears and apologies. Before that though, this is going forward with confidence.

Thank you to everyone who's supported me by reading, reviewing, favoriting and following. I appreciate everyone so very much.

(Also, to the guest who asked what I enjoyed reading, and what inspires me to write: I read everything. I've read classical literature and YA romance and graphic novels and manga and historical documents and scientific journals and poetry and books in another language and the backs of magazines and news articles, short stories, and obviously fanfiction. I think everything inspires me to write in some small way. My favorite novels, if I'm going to make a short list, are: The Count of Monte Cristo, Phantom of the Opera, Beloved, Lord of the Rings, White Fang, and Flowers for Algernon. I've read and loved a lot of Arthur Miller plays, Death of a Salesman, the Crucible, and A View from the Bridge. I highly recommend Our Town by Thornton Wilder. I really enjoy practically everything written by Sam Kean (He writes about scientific topics). For science fiction, I have to recommend Isaac Asimov because so many of the things he writes are so brilliant. Short stories I've loved include The Lottery, Hills like White Elephants, A Good Man is Hard to Find and the Interpreter of Maladies. For poetry I love Billy Collins and T. S. Elliot and I highly recommend Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur. Some of the best YA fiction I've read include the Young Wizards Series and pretty much everything by Tamora Pierce. Basically if we get me started I can ramble on for days about all the fond memories I have with the stuff I've read. Everything is good. Read a lot. Read a lot even if it discomfits you. Read whatever you like reading and write what you can think of writing.)

~Tavina.


	76. Days of the Dead Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Kakashi seems to understand that I want him to stay put with his other friends, because he doesn't try to catch me again even though he could've.

Instead, I pause outside the bar, and listen as he drops back into his seat, responding to something else that Anko said.

 _He's getting better this year, because he wants to._ I smile. _A shift for the better._ You can't get better without wanting to. He wants to get better, so he's out with friends again.

With that thought in mind, I wander off into the night.

I cover a yawn with the back of my hand. It's time to sleep, as long as my cousins let me do that. They might not.

I don't really know how long our family gathering is going to go on for really.

As it turns out, my hopes are a bit dashed as soon as I get back, because Cousin Kosha throws an arm around me. "C'mon, the boys are wrestling in the fire pit. I think the odds are on Cousin Shin to win the entire tournament."

I blink once, all fatigue forgotten. "They've moved on from the ball game?"

I didn't realize that we were playing another tournament tonight, or I would have hurried a bit faster.

Wrestling tournaments are _fun._ Well, they're fun when they don't determine our clan heiress, and no one gets hurt participating.

That's the thing with my family really, when we're not trying to do anything serious, our family gatherings are wild and crazy and just plain fun.

"But didn't we just eat?"

Cousin Kosha laughs, fangs flashing in the firelight. " _Boys._ " She shakes her wild hair. "They'll all get stomach aches at this rate." She grins, a wide, fanged thing.

I shrug. "We get to watch the show though."

Cousin Kihaku flaps a hand at me as she leans against one of the makeshift tables. "That we do."

Cousin Kotsu's here too, to our left, collecting a pile of money. Clearly, there's wagers going on about the outcomes of the matches.

Inside the ring of fire, Cousin Sanji faces off with Cousin Kidate.

The two of them circle each other uneasily, eye contact intense.

It's hotter than fire inside the wrestling ring.

I'm impressed. We've actually managed to pull together a tournament in the time that I've been gone. It looks like we're going to spend all night on this.

On the other side of the fire, Uncle Kegawa slaps Uncle Teiru on the back. "You think your boy's gonna win his match?"

"I think it would be sad if he didn't win at least a first match." Uncle Teiru grins, sharp edged. "But then, someone has to win and someone has to lose."

Uncle Kegawa throws his head back and howls with laughter. "That's the safest show of support for my nephew I've ever heard." He cups his hands around his mouth. "You win, ya hear, Kidate? I've got too many ryo on you for you to lose."

"Oh come off it." Cousin Sanji shouts right back. "Uncle Kegawa, don't make your favoritism so obvious."

"Yeah, Uncle." Cousin Kidate laughs. "You're gonna ruin the atmosphere and make Sanji lose before I get to beat him."

Uncle Kegawa holds up his hands. "I give. Wrestle each other, not me."

The two of them go back to circling each other, perfectly intent on throwing the other out of the ring of fire.

Other clans might claim to be more dramatic, but I strongly doubt that the Uchiha are currently watching their boys compete in a wrestling tournament in the middle of the night while sitting outside a ring of fire.

They're probably asleep like normal people who have to wake up at the crack of dawn for the prayer to the ancestors.

We're going to hold a party until dawn, then pray for our ancestors and join the wider village for more festivities later.

Kiba squeezes out of the crowd towards me. "Can I sit on the table, Neechan?" He covers a yawn with a little hand. "Can't see."

I plop him on the table and reach out to pick Akamaru up for the show as well. "You don't want to go back to bed? You're going to fall asleep during the prayer tomorrow."

Well, technically today, because I'm fairly certain it's past midnight now.

Kiba shakes his head. "Nuh-uh. I'm very awake." He blinks several times at me. "See, wide awake!"

I laugh. "Alright." We sit on the table together. He'll fall asleep soon enough, unless the matches get so intense that we are both kept up by the excitement.

On the other side of the ring of flame, Kaa-san grins. "Alright, everyone! The boys have volunteered to entertain us until dawn! Everyone who wants to place a bet should have already taken it up to Kegawa-nii, or the lovely Kotsu-chan, but if not, get your bets in now or forever hold your peace." No one steps forward to wager more money, so Kaa-san continues. "Now, the first match is between Sanji and Kidate. May the better wolf win."

Her hand falls, and my cousins leap at each other.

What follows is a wild flurry of limbs and flying sand and snapping teeth.

It's a bout of good natured tussling really, though there's just enough dramatic tension with the ring of fire that everyone waits with bated breath.

Beside me, Kiba yawns like I knew he would. Still, all he does is shuffle closer stubbornly refusing to fall asleep or even concede that he's tired. I throw my arm over his shoulder and pull him even closer.

I'm hardly going to goad him about his yawning. For one, Kiba would take any good natured teasing about his relative young age badly, and for another, I would rather that he fall asleep instead of using stubborn determination to prop himself awake until the morning light and fall asleep during the morning prayer in front of Okami-sama tomorrow.

Okami-sama's an easy going god, but since we do take Bon rather seriously, it would still be unkind to fall asleep in the middle of a prayer.

Not to mention, disrespecting one's ancestor is just plain rude, even if you didn't mean it.

I still haven't told anyone about my encounter with our family god.

It hasn't been that long, and Kaa-san has been busy, but more than that, I haven't anything to prove that it was a real encounter other than a half burnt stick of incense.

It's not that I don't believe it.

I do.

I have never really been devoutly religious before. I would not be able to dream up a meeting like the one I had.

It's not even that I think Kaa-san wouldn't believe it.

Okami-sama is our family god, and our clan believes in him with a strength that _endures._ It's been too long, too far, he's almost lost to the sands of time for every other person I've met, but for the Inuzuka, his legacy endures.

No.

I haven't gotten around to telling anyone else, if only because I am not sure that I ought to. Kaa-san doesn't seem to mind that she still doesn't know who exactly Kiba's new Jiji is, having just accepted that he's probably one of the people Kiba can acceptably call Jiji since no one's knocked down our door to complain, and Okami-sama himself had put me back in bed and presumably avoided being seen by other people.

If someone else saw him put me back to bed, they've been surprisingly quiet about it. If Okami made himself known again in the district, then it's likely there'd be a celebration far louder than this.

I'm going to go with the idea that no one saw him, because he didn't want to be seen.

If he doesn't want other people to know that he's back in the mortal realm, it's not really my place to tell them.

In front of us, Cousin Kidate throws Cousin Sanji out of the ring of fire in a wide spray of sand and howls his triumph to the moon. They good naturedly clasp arms and pound each other on the back before the competitors of the next match are called.

Beside me, Kiba droops, breathing deep and even in a way that could only be termed as asleep.

I gesture to catch Cousin Kosha's attention and go to put him to bed. There's more comfortable places to sleep than my leg and the plastic table.

Kosha nods to let me know she saw and turns back to cheering for the two competitors of the next match equally fiercely.

I tuck Kiba into bed, and then I give in and crawl into bed myself. It is soft and comfortable.

* * *

The next thing I remember is Kaa-san shaking the two of us awake for the morning prayer. "Rise and shine, my little wolf cubs, it's time for the prayer."

Kiba's a little groggy, as am I, but it's nothing terribly problematic. We manage to dress ourselves presentably and make our way to the shrine. We'll have breakfast after the morning prayer and before we're supposed to take a break from Bon related activities until tomorrow.

I kneel down on the tatami mat directly behind Kaa-san, Kiba sharing the mat but from my left side. There's a bit of a space big enough for another person on my right as long as they're thin, given that we are, quite small.

The Triplets and Kuromaru herd Akamaru off to their own section.

From what they've told me, they have their own rituals to Okami and to Yama and Yasuka to participate in.

The rest of the clan situates themselves in their respective positions.

Each of us holds a stick of unlit incense between our hands. Long ago, according to Uncle Kegawa, all the sticks would be lit, but this is back when we still lived on Mount Hoyoken and held the prayer for Okami-sama in an age old clearing in open air.

Nowadays, we pray with unlit incense so the smell doesn't overpower our noses and make us sick by having so many in an enclosed space.

Not to mention, it would be a breathing hazard, given that we have the doors closed.

Which, honestly makes sense. And considering what I know of Okami-sama, being able to hear prayers to his name even if it's only in our thoughts and not voiced out loud, is one of his strong suits. There's no need to light incense to draw his attention in our direction.

It's on us already if we choose to speak to him.

Everyone's finally situated, when Kaa-san suddenly surges to her feet. "Enough is enough." She mutters loud enough for everyone to hear before she stalks her way down the rows and throws the shrine doors open wide.

There, on the steps caught almost by surprise, is Kakashi, frozen mid flight.

Everyone sees him, so I suppose he stops even trying to run away.

His shoulders slump.

Kaa-san grabs him by the back of his yukata and hauls him inside the shrine. "You haven't come to prayer in a long time." She says and shakes him. "Shame on you, Kakashi-kun. You should know that Okami-sama would want his son's children to come too."

 _Oh._ So that's why the Inuzuka and the Hatake are close.

The Inuzuka are the descendants of Okami's daughter, Yasuka.

And now, with Kaa-san's words, it all makes sense. The Hatake are the descendants of Okami's son, Yama.

"There's only me now." Kakashi protests rather weakly. He's the last of his name, the last of the Hatake Clan.

Did Sakumo-san also come here on Bon?

Did he pray with the rest of my family? Do they remember him? He'd been Kaa-san's jounin sensei, so the clan had to have known him rather well.

If he had lived, would I have seen him often? Would I know him as an Uncle or a family friend?

In a perfect world, we would all know each facet of our history and all the people who should've been there to make an impact would be, but all I know about Hatake Sakumo is his scant backstory as a wound on Kakashi's heart and from his writings in the Raiton scrolls that I still have yet to return.

The writing he had left behind speaks like a man who loved his family dearly, who held his responsibility and duty in high regard, who was unselfish and kind.

Kaa-san shoves him into the space on my right because that is actually the only little bit of space left in this shrine in the human section. "All the more reason you should come. You represent the entire Hatake now. If you want him to hear your pack's voice too, you have to come talk to him."

He arranges himself in a sort of seiza, but doesn't look at me. Instead, he stares straight ahead. He seems a little shocked still, a little lost somehow.

From the still open shrine doors, comes Kakashi's pack led by Pakkun. They crowd into the space reserved for the rest of our partners in the back before Sumimaru pushes them forward until they are relatively close to Kuromaru, the Triplets, and Akamaru.

It's really rather nice, because no one makes any snide remarks about each other's names or other such issues.

Instead, they conduct themselves with relative silence as we find our place.

I have hope that they'll become friends in the future.

Kiba helpfully shoves an extra stick of incense in Kakashi's direction. "Here Ossan with lots of dogs." He remarks in a rather loud whisper that sets Uncle Kegawa howling with laughter that he restrains to quiet gasps for continued air. Aunt Misao calmly pats him on the back. "You need a prayer stick too."

Kakashi takes the incense, looks at it for a moment before clasping it between his gloved hands, and decides not to object to being called 'Ossan with lots of dogs.' "Thank you very much, Kiba- _chan_."

Kiba beams because he's not at the stage where he connects -chan with being called childish yet, and wouldn't really object to it even if he knew because he's still quite literally a child who doesn't mind these little things like suffixes. "You're welcome, Ossan."

Oh, I'd just impressed on him the great importance of saying you're welcome when people say thank you to him a year ago. It serves him quite well now, because he's very innocently ruined all Kakashi's grand plans to troll him.

As for this verbal sparring match between the two of them, well, it looks like Kiba's unwittingly winning.

 _Kiba-1. Kakashi-0_

Behind us, Uncle Teiru chokes on his own laughter and can only mask it as impolite hacking coughs.

He's not as brash as Uncle Kegawa, nor quite as loud as Kaa-san, but he does have quite an impressive mischievous streak.

I'd learned that from the one time Kiba came home drenched, complaining of how Uncle Teiru had managed to get him with a pail of water, which, if we consider how fast Kiba can dodge...is rather impressive.

An impressive wave of coughs follow as other people pretend to contain their own hilarity.

Kakashi pretends not to hear any of it, but I can see the tip of his left ear from the corner of my ear. It burns red.

Kaa-san's back is as straight as ever. "If I may begin the prayer before we get too off track and decide to head in for breakfast before starting this again later?"

Everyone composes themselves back into something that vaguely resembles a clan, or two, at an important and official ceremony.

"On this day, we give thanks to Okami-sama for our clan's continued health and prosperity." Kaa-san begins.

It's not a prayer exactly in some parts. In some ways, it reminds me of a different holiday, one that's already so blurry I've forgotten its name.

We give thanks. We pray for the dead.

"We give thanks." Over three hundred voices echo back to her, waves upon waves of thanks washing forward towards Okami's statue.

"We ask him to protect our dead and watch over our living." Kaa-san continues.

"Protect our dead." We all sigh back, even Kakashi. "Watch over our living."

And now the time comes for individual prayers, we can speak or we can stay silent until we indicate that our prayer has passed by setting down our stick of incense.

Most of us choose to speak.

Kaa-san, as Queen of the Pack, begins. "For my children," she says. "For Kuromaru, for my pack, I give thanks. I ask Okami-sama to protect what I love for another year."

The prayer passes to me. I pause for a moment to thank Okami privately for putting me back to bed with Kiba, and then I wet my lips and begin. "Thank you for aiding me during my trip to the Capital, and listening to my wishes, and giving me the best family I could ever ask for." _Please, if you can, protect everyone or give me the ability to protect them._

It isn't perfect. We aren't a flawless family, and our fault lines run deep, but so does our love, wide and enduring as the earth.

The next person who ought to pick up the prayer is Kiba. "'S not fair." He mutters to himself. "Kaa-san and Neechan already said thank you for our family." He thinks about it a moment more. "Thank you, Okami-sama for No-chan and Stupid Sasuke and Miko-baa and Fuga-tou and the Ossan with lots of dogs and everyone I met this year! I have lots of friends now!"

It passes to Kakashi, who freezes for a long moment holding his stick of incense in both hands as if it's a lifeline.

Everyone before him has chosen to speak, even if I kept at least a few words private. I suspect Kaa-san did too, because she wouldn't skip praying for Tou-san.

He lets go of a long breath. "Thank you Okami-sama for giving me back the spring."

It's a bit cryptic, all things considered, but it's all he says before he sets down the stick of incense.

Still, Okami is a god, so he should know what it means.

 _The spring: What's that? His youth?_ My mind conjures up an image of Gai doing a nice guy pose, but instead, next to him, Kakashi wearing green spandex and also doing a nice guy pose and I just…

I have no words.

 _That is one cursed image alright. One very cursed image I am never trying out again._

So the prayer snakes on through the rest of the clan, as we ask for protection for the living and for the dead.

When we are done, we troop out to eat yesterday's dinner leftovers for breakfast.

Kakashi skips, but we don't try to stop him. It's enough that he came.

On his way out, Pakkun stops next to him. "They aren't bad." He says.

"What's not bad?" I wasn't aware that he was thinking heavily about anything, but he's also offered me any context.

"They're not bad names." He says at last. "The Haimaru Brothers." He says a little louder when I don't respond. "They don't have bad names."

Oh. _Oh._ Kakashi's pack and the Triplets must have made amends.

"Thank you." I scratch behind his ears to tell him that I understand. "I appreciate it."

Pakkun's tail wags once before he races off after the others.

* * *

That afternoon, I don't have plans.

Or rather, I don't have plans until a beetle proudly squirms its way onto my desk holding a message rolled up into a ball almost as big as it is.

When you happen to be teammates with an Aburame, such things are no longer surprising.

I unroll the message from Muta.

It reads "Since we are all back in the city again, Team Ensui is holding a gathering. Are you up for a spar at our old training spot?"

Am I up for a spar?

Is the Nakano wet?

Is Kakashi a troll?

Is up up and down down?

"Of course." I sprawl the two words onto a scrap of paper that I tear off and crumple into another small ball for the messenger beetle who promptly heads off.

I then consider what I need to bring.

My pouch is still equipped properly. There's no need for food since all of us would have had lunch already, and I'm quite sure that this is an impromptu fun event for us, and we'll all be going to Mufu-an after the spar anyway.

By force of habit, I clip my nightsticks to my belt.

Well, our old team training ground isn't that far from the house, it's time to get going.

I whistle for the Triplets as I clatter onto the porch. "Mu-kun's asking for a Team Spar. I might be out for dinner too, Kaa-san!"

"I took Fugaku up on his evening visit offer this time." Kaa-san calls after me. "Afternoon snacks are fine, but don't ruin your appetite for dinner."

I wave a hand in the air to tell her that I've got it. "Okay!"

Then the Triplets and I take to the roofs.

One of the nicest things about Konoha, is the close leaning nature of all the buildings.

That, and the patience of everyone who lives on a top floor apartment to know that complaining about the people and dogs running over their roofs at all odd hours of the day and night.

 _Kaa-san said that we were going to Chichi's house._

 _I suppose this means that our clan relations are better than they were._

The Uchiha had recently invited members of another clan to one of their funerals, and the other clans leaned in to look.

Kaa-san had spoken in favor of letting Chichi and Mikoto-san adopt Naruto at the last Clan Head Council Meeting.

The Sandaime had to have noticed.

But how much does this shift affect? And when it comes down to it, how much will it matter in the end?

Three years from now, in a story that I read, Itachi massacres his entire extended family. Four years ago, I had tried and failed to not be his friend because of it.

Three years from now.

I can't help but feel like I'm running out of time, even though village relations between the Uchiha and their neighbors are on the mend.

Is it mending fast enough?

Am I even a determining factor in anything?

My life has changed things, will continue to change things, in spiraling outward shock ripples because I am Inuzuka Hana, but Inuzuka Hana differently.

But how _much,_ how much? And can it be for the better?

That I cannot determine. _Too much thinking about this will make me mad._

 _Actions and reactions._

I can only control what I do, all reactions to what I've done are beyond my control. I can no more affect those than I can become the moon.

But does that mean that I'll give up? Hardly.

"Someone's deep in thought." I blink.

Toku's staring at me, our faces not two inches apart. This close, the Hyuga eyes aren't pupiless. They're just very light, almost the same color as the iris, that's all.

"Oh come on, Toku." I tap him lightly on the shoulder. "It's Bon. We all think about things." Bon is for the dead, and in a hidden village, there isn't anyone without death in their past.

Beyond him, Itachi and Mu-kun are flopped out on the ground.

Mu-kun raises a hand. "Hana-chan, you should know by now, Toku doesn't think of anything except how to turn himself into a blind panda boy."

"Why you!" Toku jabs a finger in his direction in mocking disapproval. "You're one to talk, Bug Boy! Who's the one who's been a stranger for like the past year?"

"Presumably," Itachi comments from his place on the ground. "That just means he's busy. We're all busy."

"Exactly!" Toku throws up his hands. "Too busy for old friends, the whole lot of us."

"They sound like us." San mumbles. "When did they become each other's brothers, Hana?"

"Who knows." Ichi flops down onto his front paws with a resigned woof.

"I asked Hana not you." San grouses.

And that's it, that's enough to make me laugh hysterically. My dogs think that my partners act like them, and then proceeded to back it up with evidence.

"So," Mu-kun raises his head. The autumn sunlight glints off of his glasses. "Who does Hana-chan think is right? Is a bug boy better than a blind panda boy?"

"What are we rating them on?" I ask as I come over to join them. "Because if we rate them on humor, the blind panda is more humorous."

"Aww." Toku groans as he rolls over and then peels himself off of the ground to spit out a blade of grass. "I was hoping to be fearsome, not humorous."

Itachi pats him on the back in consolation. "You'll just have to settle, Toku-kun. You're hardly fearsome at the moment."

"Yes." Mu-kun agrees to make the air of depression complete. "I can just see it now, enemy nin cowering in fear because the blind panda boy spit out a blade of grass."

"You two, are not my friends." Toku wiggles over and glomps Ni. "The Haimaru brothers are my best friends now. I'm keeping Hana-chan. You two are welcome to each other and your own sarcastic hellspace."

"I thought," I comment at the sky. "We were going to spar." At this, I have to look at Mu-kun, and his disturbingly inaccurate beetle. "Instead, all we're doing right now is admiring this autumn sky."

"It's beautiful though." Itachi spreads his arms out and looks up at the few wispy clouds.

And we all mumble some form agreement. It is a beautiful autumn afternoon, not too chilly, not too warm.

Eventually though, we peel ourselves off of the ground.

"So how are we going to do this? A sparring tournament? An all out free for all brawl?" Toku cracks his knuckles. "I've learned a few new things from Haya-neesan and Kiho-baachan since the last time we sparred."

"Do we keep it to taijutsu only?" Mu-kun asks. "I mean, I've learned some new stuff too, but it's of the lethal sort."

Catch and release is not the Tracking Division's thing.

"I've been in Crypt with Sensei for a long time. All the offense I've learned recently is new applications of Katon Jutsu." Itachi scuffs the edge of his sandal against a clump of grass. He's learned to slouch too, since he's started spending all his time with Sensei, a bit of a slight drawl to his words he's never had before.

I wonder briefly what Chichi and Mikoto-san think of this. Perhaps they regret letting Nara Ensui take control of Itachi's education. Maybe they don't. They haven't mentioned it to me before.

For the first time, I realize that our separate lives since the breakup of Team Ensui has actually influenced us. We're not the same as we were before. We don't know everything about each other's fighting habits anymore.

We haven't gone out for a spar for a long long time. At least a few months, and at this point, it's

"Maybe," I take the time to think about it. "We can do a warm up spar? Wait for a bit before showing off the new things?"

I've learned new things while down at the station too, and the Raiton scrolls have helped me a lot too.

Mind over matter. If I don't expect the lightning to burn my hands because it's a part of me and not something other, I can hold it in my hands without side effects.

It's a mental thing, a block that Hatake-san had cautioned Kakashi about so many years ago. It seems he's internalized it to the point that my own interpretation of it was foreign to him.

Raiton Jutsu is _like_ real lightning, but it's also _not._

The two exist together in the same space like a Yin Yang.

"That's a great idea." Mu-kun's stance widens. "I'm ready when you are."

We're tense for a moment, and then it's as if the rubber band breaks.

We leap.

* * *

Not five minutes into the spar, we're breaking out new moves left and right. It's like a bandaid came off and we're all suddenly freer for it.

I block one of Itachi's fists with an upward swing of a wooden nightstick, still turning with the momentum from dodging a kick from Mu-kun.

Too late, I forget to check where Toku is — _behind —_

The Triplets tag team mob him, so it is safe perhaps.

Itachi flings a kunai in Mu-kun's direction, and he dissolves into a cloud of Aburame beetles.

I take the brief moment of distraction to swing forward at his ribs.

The style Chichi's been teaching me doesn't emphasize killing, but crack a few ribs and most people can't move anymore anyway.

I freeze the moment before I actually do hit him in the midriff.

Toku's index finger just tapped the back of my neck. There's no chakra in it, I'm not actually sealed, and theoretically I can move, but it's just an old habit.

I turn my head to look at him. "That's not fair, Toku."

He smiles wanely at me. "Hey, nothing's fair here, Hana-chan."

Mu-kun's bent back Toku's other arm, Itachi's kunai between two fingers.

Of all of us, he's been in the most vicious situations over the past year, so it figures that he's the one with the most ruthlessness of the four of us.

We've all stopped now, and it seems the spar is finished.

We make the seal of reconciliation, to officially end the spar. It's ingrained our bones by now, to finish spars this way, so we always end on a good note.

The silence stretches out long.

We stare at each other for a moment longer, and burst into side splitting laughter.

"I guess I worried too much." Mu-kun adjusts his glasses. "No one's more than a bit bruised."

"I have to thank Toku for that." Itachi sighs. "If you didn't pretend to seal Hana's tenketsu, I'd have bruised ribs for sure."

He's had to have watched Chichi run through the katas of this form he's taught me before.

"Aha," Toku rubs the back of his neck with a hand, shaking out the pins and needles in his other one by his side. "I mean, it was a reflex thing."

"Let's just go to Mufu-an." I swing an arm over Toku's shoulder, and whistle for the Triplets. "I know for one, the blind panda boy here is dying to profess his eternal love for gyoza."

"Hey!" Toku elbows me lightly in the side. "Do not get on their bandwagon, Hana-chan. I'm disappointed in you."

And what remains of the afternoon is golden.

Gold, gold, gold.

How many meetings will we have like this? It's the thought on the mind as the second day of Bon crawls towards a close.

How many golden afternoons do we have to spend with each other?

What is our legacy?

What do we leave behind?

* * *

 **A.N.** And on that ominous note, Hana ponders the future of Team Ensui and her own future. Hey, but at least they're back together in the same city again. (It feels like it's been a while, but it's actually only been a few months, there's just been a lot that's happened narratively.

We'll wrap up this arc in the next chapter. The next arc up is tentatively titled "The Councilor's Apprentice" so be ready for more political shenanigans and fun times ahead.

I've been really busy the past fall semester, and it's only going to get busier from here on out. (Seven classes this semester, 21 credits, we'll see how it goes.) Still, I will try not to take such a long break between chapters. (Checks last updated date and winces)

I think the fastest way to get a hold of me for questions at the moment is through discord since I'm an active participant in several servers there, so I've made a server if anyone has any burning questions they'd like to ask me, here's the invite 8KhM9C6.

Thank you everyone who reviewed, favorited and followed Bloodless. Since the last time I updated, Bloodless has passed 2000 followers, which is really exciting! I no longer respond to everyone because real life is just so busy, but I read everyone's reviews, and they brighten my day immensely. Thank you so much.

~Tavina


	77. Days of the Dead Arc: Four

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

We're at a table in Mufu-an, though not our normal table. It had been taken by another group of older chunin, and we didn't fight them over a table.

It's just a table, free to be used by other people.

A few months of not coming here, and things have changed.

But that's what life does. It changes.

"It's good to be back here again like this." I remark when we sit waiting for the waitress to bring our order. "I haven't been in a while."

Between my trip to the capital, my apprenticeship in the mornings, and meetings with Kasuga in the evenings regarding the current state of affairs in the Ninth District, I don't seem to have the time to remember Mufu-an anymore.

Not to mention, it doesn't feel right to come here alone.

"Me neither." Toku slings an arm around my shoulders, chuckling quietly next to my ear. "I didn't get back from the Land of Iron until a day before Bon."

"We've all been busy." Mu-kun watches as a beetle crawls up his index finger and then down the opposite side. "Though I think we can agree that Ita-kun's security clearance is the highest now."

All of our eyes turn to him.

He puts his hands up in surrender. "I have to know what things are saying to decode them." He slumps. "Though it's not as if Sensei lets me read anything interesting. He sometimes just leaves me gibberish messages under double layer encryption."

"That might mean there's a third layer he has to crack to make it not gibberish." The thought skips out of my mouth without much thought. I'm among friends, and knowing what I do about Sensei's temperament, he wouldn't just make up messages for Itachi to decode.

It would be too much effort.

"Think about it." I continue. "Sensei wouldn't do more work than he has to right? He's suspiciously tricky like that."

Thinking about Sensei's habits brings back the nagging thought I have of visiting him again.

Bon is about the dead, that is true, but it's also about remembering the common dead.

If Shimura Danzo can visit Tou-san's grave, then his best friend would be remiss not to.

Sensei's been busy with the four of us, his work at crypt, whatever else he's been doing for a while now, and his mental state. Still, even though he doesn't want me to come around again specifically, I still want to see him.

Perhaps not at Bon. Bon is for the dead.

 _After, then._ I decide. _I will visit after Bon._

"Why didn't I think of that?" Toku smacks his forehead. "Hana-chan gets right into the thick of things now, doesn't she?"

"Since when didn't I?" I flash my fangless smile at him. "I'm always in the middle of something."

"Whether that something happens to be a manure pile right next to Toku…" Mu-kun heaves an exaggerated sigh. "That doesn't remain to be seen."

Our food arrives without much fanfare, but we pause our conversation and thank our server before we continue.

A little ways off, the Triplets gnaw on some fresh bones from the kitchen, speaking among themselves about something in a remarkably serious manner. I will have to ask them about it later.

"Mu-kun." Toku wails as soon as it is at least a little bit socially acceptable to do so. "Why will you not let me forget the manure in my hair? I can still smell it."

"I wish I was there for this manure pile." Itachi comments. "By the time I got to be Sensei's student, he'd gotten bored of manure."

Toku casts him a baleful glare. "You can replace me in my memories. Mu-kun, tease him about manure in his luxurious locks or something." Toku then promptly stuffs an entire gyoza into his mouth.

The look on his face is one of quiet bliss.

Mu-kun clicks the wire frame of his glasses between his hands which are on the table as he stares up at the wooden ceiling. "Hmmm." He considers it, before swinging his golden gaze down to Itachi next to him. "Ita-kun, do you smell the cow turd in your hair?"

Itachi freezes, something like horror in his slightly parted lips. "Cow turd?"

"Or pig slop." I supply unhelpfully. "There was a lot of pig slop in a different one. Multiple different ones, now that I think about it."

Itachi puts his head down on the table. "I am so glad Sensei never wanted to see me with cow turd or pig slop in my hair." He puts his hands together above his head in a form of supplication. "Praise be Amaterasu. I hope he never gets the idea in his head."

Toku chokes on his gyoza.

I pat him on the back in reassurance and cast Mu-kun a look. "Job well done. I think." I remark. "Now that we've successfully disabled the rest of our team, there's more tea for us!"

Mu-kun's gotten snarkier recently, but he's still no less shy in public. He only teases us because we're his friends.

He takes a sip, a little pink around his ears. "A reasonable deduction."

* * *

Itachi and I make our way back to his house later that evening.

"What should I call your kaa-san?" He asks rather suddenly. "Inuzuka-san is too formal, isn't it?"

The Triplets break out into doggy chuckles behind us.

"Inuzuka-san?" San asks. "That's a very bad idea."

I'd forgotten that my house was the one we never really visited as a team. Kaa-san doesn't like to cook, and in that same vein, most of our team's meetings are either at Mufu-an, Sensei's house or Itachi's house.

I also don't really have a habit of inviting friends home. I prefer to go out more often.

So really, my team hasn't met Kaa-san all that frequently.

"Inuzuka-san is far too formal. We're siblings, so you can't address her like a stranger." I bump my shoulder with his as we continue down the street. "Just call her Tsume-ba, or Basan. She'd love that."

Kaa-san likes kids, even if that doesn't fit with her sharp smiles and hunting attitude. She likes family and puppies. She's loud, brash, and unapologetic.

And for a long time now, I've wanted to be strong like her.

"Oh okay." Itachi bumps me back with his shoulder. "That's a relief actually. I think the formality would make me sad."

I grin. "We're getting to you. You'll never be the same."

He makes a face at me that says he doesn't care. "Hana-chan. Hana-chan. I think I gave up long ago. It can't hurt me now."

I link my arm with his when we pass the garden gate. "Good." I say it out loud. "It's good that way."

"We're back!" He calls.

We leave our sandals in the hall next to the small row already present. There's already six pairs here even before ours.

Kaa-san and Kiba-chan are already here then.

"Itachi-kun and Hana-chan!" Mikoto-san pulls us both forward. "Come to the kitchen, quick. Anata and Tsume are arm wrestling."

Arm wrestling?

"Nuh-uh!" That's Kiba. "Kaa-san's totally, definitely going to win, so there!"

"No she won't." That's Sasuke. "Tou-san's super strong, so there!"

Itachi and I glance at each other and try to contain our laughter just enough so we can make it to the kitchen in time to see this all happen.

They'll never stop arguing, I guess.

"Well." Kiba sticks his tongue out at Sasuke, Akamaru sitting on his head. "Kaa-san's gonna be a jounin. So there."

Sasuke thinks about it. "Well Tou-san's already a jounin." Behind him, Shisui covers his mouth with a hand. It still doesn't hide his shaking shoulders.

"That doesn't mean anything." Kiba declares. "Kaa-san's super strong, and I don't care what you say."

Sasuke looks at Kiba as if he'd overturned the entire board or something. "Doesn't matter?" He asks in a shocked whisper. "Of course it matters!" He tugs on Chichi's sleeve. "Tou-san, tell him it matters!"

Chichi's amused, if the look he shares with Mikoto-san over my shoulder is any indication. "It's not a fight to the death, Sasuke."

"But Tou-san!"

He sets a hand on Sasuke's head. "It's okay, you just have to collect more recruits to cheer me on."

Sasuke puffs up with importance. He quickly scans the room to figure out who he can ask for more cheering help. Of course, his eyes land on Itachi and I in the doorway.

Kaa-san wipes a tear away from her eye. "Look, Fugaku, I understand you want reinforcements, but Hana-chan's cheering for me."

I go to sit next to Kiba. It serves the dual purpose of backing Kaa-san's claim and preventing Kiba from diving across the table to reenact a few of our cousins' wrestling moves. "Of course."

"But then we have more cheering people than them." Sasuke crosses his arms. "Maybe that's not fair."

Kaa-san flashes him a smile. "That's okay, Sasuke-kun. I'm not afraid." She reaches out and ruffles his hair. "But maybe you should cheer extra hard. It'll console him when he loses."

Chichi's right eyebrow rises a miniscule amount. He doesn't say much though.

Mikoto-san sits down on Chichi's other side. "Well now, we should begin, or else you two will talk about this all night, and dinner will go cold." Her eyes gleam red for a brief flicker. "And you don't want dinner to grow cold."

Everyone feels a slight chill go down their spine. We shake our heads. No, we really don't want Mikoto-san's dinner to get cold.

"Right." Chichi sets his right arm on the table. "Let's get this over with, shall we?"

Kaa-san grabs his hand. "Food only motivates me."

Mikoto-san, as the only other true adult in this room, rises to give the honors of the countdown. "Three." Each pause drags out longer than it has to. "Two." She seems to be enjoying it though. "One." She clicks the timer.

"Go Kaa-san!" Kiba and I shout. "Go Kaa-san!" Akamaru and Ni join in, though Akamaru barks louder.

Ichi, San and Kuromaru pile together by the door. Kuromaru's sleeping, if his drooling is anything to go by.

He only drools when he's sleeping.

Kiba and I make a good team, if our perfectly coordinated cheering is anything to go by.

"Go Tou-san!" Sasuke rallies the troops, and pretty soon Itachi and Shisui are also cheering together.

Kiba and I only take that as an invitation to get louder.

The two clasped hands shake, but neither arm budges.

Our cheering dies down a bit.

Fifteen seconds. Thirty seconds. Forty-five—

Kaa-san's arm tilts towards the table.

Dead silence.

It tilts a little further…

"Kuromaru, boy." She says, in the dead calm. She doesn't have to say more.

One moment of inattention, and she flips the posture on him.

Now it's Chichi's hand heading towards the table, and once the momentum's started, it's hard to stop.

Two seconds...three…

Chichi's hand hits the back of the table.

I spin Kiba and Akamaru around in a circle.

"Not fair!" Sasuke leaps to his feet. "Tsume-ba you called Kuromaru!"

"Nah." Kaa-san casts a look behind her. "He's still sleeping."

And indeed, Kuromaru's ears haven't even twitched. He's still drooling by the door, his legs sprawled out as if he's dreaming of running.

"Wouldn't have won if I didn't though. Too honorable by far, Fugaku. Playing games like that loses you things." _Too much honor loses battles._

Kaa-san's always as good as her word for her family, and she's friendly and sociable with plenty of others, but she's a shinobi too. Perhaps not first, or last priority, but she's a shinobi.

Winning's been pounded into her as much as it lives in the rest of us.

"I see no problem with that." Chichi doesn't seem unhappy. "I am not too proud to lose."

The first rule is not dying. If you're not dead, you can win another day.

Kaa-san offers Chichi one half of the seal of reconciliation. "You've gotten better since the war."

"So have you." Chichi's fingers curl around hers. "If you need a sponsor for the jounin test." He leaves the rest of the statement open.

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Now!" Mikoto-san claps her hands together. "It's time to set the table for dinner. Congratulations on your win, Tsume-chan. You get the largest portion of dessert today!"

"Dessert?" Oh, yes. Now, of course Chichi sounds unreasonably miffed. It's always dessert that gets him.

"You regret it now, don't you." Kaa-san howls with laughter. "Your sweet tooth is cursing you."

"I take back my offer." Chichi decides. "I will only reconsider if you give me your dessert."

Kaa-san bares her teeth at him. "My dessert."

It's an evening full of fun and good natured ribbing. By the end of the night, when we take our leave, Kiba is fast asleep against Kaa-san's shoulder, and I am smothering a yawn behind a hand myself.

* * *

The next morning, Kiba and I go to sweep out the graves that have no one else to tend them in the village cemetery.

We live in a hidden village, it's a sad fact of life that there are more of these graves than the average person ought to be comfortable with.

For them, we bring white lilies and hope that somewhere, they know that someone is thinking of them. Even if those someones are two children who know nothing of them.

"Neesan?" Kiba asks when we run out of lilies midway down the fifth row we visit. We might not have any flowers anymore, but there are still plenty more graves to sweep.

We visit the same ones every year for the most part, though as Kiba and I got older, we've been able to reach more in the same span of time.

Ever since two years ago, Kaa-san's started to stop coming with us. This year is the first year she let us go out alone.

Kaa-san has been far busier ever since she decided to take the Jounin Exams this winter. On top of her duties as Clan Head and missions, she has training for the exams to contend with. It makes sense she isn't here.

Besides, in a small way, this is her acknowledgement that we're growing up.

"What is it?" I ask him.

He looks down at his hands for a moment, worrying over his words. "Do you think Tou-san's sad?"

I squeeze his shoulder. "Why do you think that?"

He glances up at me and then looks down again. Without warning, he drops his broom and mobs me. "'Cause of Fuga-tou." He says to my middle.

Oh. _Oh._

 _Kiba-chan._

"I don't think so." I tell him. "I think Tou-san would be very happy that we're happy." He would be sad to not be here with us, but I do not ever think he would begrudge our happiness.

Since we are his Hana and his Kiba, it is only natural that he would cheer for our happiness.

"But you don't _know_ that." He must have thought about it for a while now. "And if Neesan doesn't know it, how'm I supposed to know?"

"We do the best we can." I smooth his bangs away from his forehead. "Tou-san loves you, so he won't be sad."

Tou-san had been so excited to tell me that I was going to have a younger sibling, I remember.

He'd pulled me into the kitchen to whisper about it once when Kaa-san wasn't home, oh so long ago. His disappointment that I already knew had sent me into fits of laughter.

He had then proceeded to grouch when Kaa-san came home from the store with a dozen new kunai in a box about how parents should be together to tell their children something of such magnitude. Kaa-san had kissed him on the cheek to appease him, I remember.

He'd been quiet for a soft moment after that.

I had not forgotten this exactly, but it isn't a memory I like to think of most of the time, so I keep it buried most of the time.

"Oh." Kiba nods to himself and picks his broom back up. "So Neesan _does_ know." He considers this for a moment. "Just didn't use the same words." He can feel my memories even if I don't mention them; he knows that they're there.

I prod his cheek. "If we all used the same words, wouldn't we be boring?" It is not the same as _knowing_ , this conviction in my bones, but maybe it's a _feeling._ I feel that it is true, so it is so.

At least, it is to me.

And maybe that's enough.

* * *

Fu comes to collect me in the late afternoon. Unlike the general expectation I had of him, he enters through the front door. Strangely enough, I'd always thought of him as a window sort of guy before, given that he _is_ a ROOT Agent, but alas, I was wrong.

Kakashi's the window person. Fu uses the door like a normal human.

Two knocks on the door, Kiba and I look at each other. We'd been drawing with crayons in a little circle with Kaa-san.

I can say that my art skills are not much better than Kiba's. His actually seem to be better than mine. One, his work has always had a semblance of whatever he'd been trying to depict. For another, these depictions have started looking more realistic as of late.

I'll have to ask him about it sometime.

He uses more purples and pinks than before, which I find interesting, but not all that odd. He has to get tired of reds and blacks at some point.

Kaa-san rises and opens the door.

Fu bows. "Good afternoon, Tsume-san. Danzo-sama sent this one to fetch Hana-hime." Without rising from his bow, he continues. "This one is Fu."

Well, that's interesting. This level of individualism is rare. He'd given his name.

I don't have time to ponder the intricacies of what this means for ROOT Agents as a whole, or even what it means for Fu.

"Hana- _hime._ " Kaa-san turns to me with a fond smile. I am unlikely to hear the end of that particular name from her any time soon. "Your shishou wants to see you."

I rise from my place on the floor. "Shishou wants to see me?"

Fu smiles. It doesn't touch his eyes. I am concerned that nothing can touch his eyes anymore, but now is not the time to wonder. "Danzo-sama also asked this one to hurry."

Something came up then. It's the last day of Bon. Normally if anything comes up, it can still be pushed off until tomorrow.

I pat Kiba on the head. "I'll be back to finish coloring, okay?"

He nods and turns to consult Akamaru about the virtues of purple versus pink. "Yeah, but I think this one goes better."

Akamaru disagrees.

Fu does not seem in any particular hurry to get where we are going when I do follow him out the door, which is odd, because he'd said that Shishou wanted him to hurry. Still, I must accept that as an oddity of his.

He really doesn't look all that much like Ino. Orange brown hair, pale amber eyes.

He doesn't look like a clan child.

Maybe that's why Danzo wanted him? He's not instantly recognizable? Honestly, my shishou's motivations for anything still evade me most of the time.

Fu's not very good at being a ROOT Agent either, from what I can understand of him. Perhaps that's a front. I am more comfortable the less brainwashed the person I'm speaking to is. Maybe Shishou knows that and has me interact with him the most because of it.

"Did something happen?" I ask him. "Where are we going?"

It's in the direction of the Tower, and I won't be suddenly hustled off to where I'll never be seen again, but it still feels reasonable to ask. Somehow, I imagine that whatever else Shishou might do, I won't be hustled off to a place where I will never be seen again.

Then, I'm not sure I trust him enough to be certain of that truth.

"Yes." He agrees. "Something has happened."

He doesn't elaborate on this, just continues on in the direction of the Tower at a leisurely pace. He's avoiding the point then. He has neither answered my first question, nor my second.

"Didn't Shishou ask you to hurry?" I ask him.

"This one lied." He responds. "This one is to fetch Hana-hime for a meeting at 3:30."

It had been about three o'clock when we left. We have plenty of time to make it to Shishou's office in the Tower even walking as we are now.

Still, that he admitted outright that he lied…

"Why did you lie?" I don't really know anything about ROOT Agents or their training really. I'm realizing this slowly, but even if I learn slowly, I do learn.

What is black and white is infinitely harder to figure out when stuck in the moment.

"This one doesn't want to be late." He's evading the real issue, but I really doubt I can force him to tell me anything he doesn't want to mention, so I drop it.

* * *

We end up in the Tower by 3:15. However, instead of going up to Shishou's office, Fu takes a different route.

We're going to the Hokage's office.

The Sandaime would never ask Fu to come get me. For another, I don't think Fu obeys the orders of the Hokage, or at least, isn't at the Sandaime's beck and call for the most part.

I didn't realize that Shishou thought of me enough to summon me to a meeting he's having with the Hokage.

I would have dressed a bit better than my tan shirt and shorts if I knew. Still, at least I have my leg pouch and flak jacket.

I don't look that much like a little kid. Another thing Yasino-nii had impressed on me when he was last in Konoha not a few weeks ago. _Appearances are important._

He dressed like the Daimyo, acted like the Daimyo, talked with the authority of the Daimyo, and so he had become the Daimyo, in the flesh, despite those council members not seeing him since he was no more than an ill teenager.

And he had frightened them with all the power and capability of the position.

How one appears matters to the audience.

Fu raps on the door, once sharply.

It's Shishou who asks us to come in.

There are four people in the room already — Elder Utatane, Elder Homura, the Sandaime, and Shishou.

Fu bows and silently returns to wherever he goes when he is being unobtrusive and absent.

I wish he would have left me with more information though. As of now, I am the main focus of this room once more.

I wish I didn't so often brush the attention of people who could chew me up and spit me out like I'm nothing.

"Hokage-sama," I greet the Sandaime first. As Hokage, his position and obvious power demands that I greet him first. "Elder Utatane, Elder Homura." As the Hokage's teammates and advisors, and more importantly as strangers to me, I greet them second. "And Shishou." To compensate for greeting him last, I offer him a slightly deeper bow than either of the other two elders.

Perhaps I have navigated this situation correctly, for the Sandaime and the Council Elders nod at me in acknowledgement.

"Heiress Inuzuka." Elder Homura regards me heavily through his glasses. He doesn't say more though, so it must be acknowledgement and not disapproval.

Shishou beckons me over when I rise. "So we're only waiting for him then." He directs this at the Sandaime who puffs on his pipe.

"He's likely not to be on time."

The not on time comment makes it sounds like they're waiting for Kakashi, but I can think of nothing all three elders and the Hokage would want to talk about with Kakashi.

I also don't think, despite Kakashi's habitual lateness, he would keep an audience like this waiting for very long.

One doesn't live in a hidden village and survive by snubbing the administration no matter how next level genius one is.

Someone else then, though I haven't the first idea who.

The four of them lapse into a slight silence.

"We can't wait for him all day." Elder Utatane sighs. "This doesn't bode well for the succession, Hiruzen."

Succession?

"He has to choose a successor." Shishou rumbles. "None of us are young anymore."

They are talking about the Hokage position then. They are waiting on someone who the Sandaime could name his successor.

The same position that had remained vacant until Sarutobi Hiruzen's death.

Tsunade had been his successor.

Who are they talking—

Jiraiya. Who else would be late? Who else would the Hokage's Council and the Hokage wait on?

Only Jiraiya. _Who is probably peeking at the women's bath house. Not something I'd personally find fit for the position of leading a village, but that's not my place to say._

Elder Homura opens his mouth to say something, but one glance at me, and he falls silent.

In another world, Inuzuka Hana became a renown veterinarian. In another world, Shimura Danzo had no planned successor.

This is not that world.

So that is why Shishou had summoned me to this meeting. He expects for me to learn from situations like these. Few people are ever privy to the inner workings of a village.

It seems that my clearance has just been upped from the general chunin clearance.

I will have to check what it is now.

The Sandaime sets his pipe down. "No one from Minato's generation will do."

I can understand that reservation.

The Yondaime is legendary. Is still legendary, despite his relatively short reign as Hokage. Less than five years.

The Third Shinobi War ended. The tentative peace began. Wartime graduation was scaled back — I had been among the last class to graduate under wartime regulations — and for nearly three and a half years, Namikaze Minato had been the Yondaime Hokage.

That brilliance is a hard class act to follow.

"Jiraiya isn't Minato's generation." Elder Homura cuts in.

Elder Utatane glances at the door. "He's older than Minato's generation."

In a way, that's sadder. The Yondaime would have been thirty this year, had he lived.

Anyone from a generation below him is still about Kakashi's age.

Still, the Sandaime merely hums and says nothing.

If Jiraiya had ever wanted to become Hokage, now would be the perfect time. The Hokage and his councilors are waiting on him to tell him that it's been confirmed.

All he would need to do is say yes.

I wonder if this meeting had taken place in the world I remember, and if it had, what had compelled Jiraiya to say no.

Footsteps down the hall, much lighter than what one would expect.

I tilt my head to the side. _He's here._

And indeed, Jiraiya of the Sannin is here. He pushes open the door at 3:47, takes in the scene, and something in his face promptly hardens. He glances at me curiously, but my place at Shimura Danzo's side must have some effect. He doesn't say anything about me.

Still, he says nothing about the people awaiting him, just takes a seat and places two scrolls on the table. "I expect Orochimaru has fled towards the Land of Rice Paddies, but midway through, I lost his tail. I wasn't able to pick up the trail before I was summoned back."

There's a question here, though the answer is probably more than a little bit obvious.

At least, I think he already knows what question they want to ask him, and exactly what he thinks of that.

"Jiraiya." The Sandaime folds his hands together. "It's time for me to name another successor."

Jiraiya freezes. "Congratulations to whoever it is, Sensei." He makes as though to leave. "Still, my work calls, you know. Vital research and all that."

"Jiraiya." Elder Utatane almost growls. "Sit back down."

Shishou is silent, watching, always watching but his hands are loosely laid atop his cane, and he has been the person with the tightest lips in this room.

I don't know if he expects this to succeed or fail. I don't even know if he _wants_ this to succeed or fail.

 _Didn't he...always want to be Hokage?_

"The person you should be congratulating…" The Sandaime blows a smoke ring out of his pipe. "Is yourself."

The tension in the room rockets up at least two notches. "I'm honored." He does not turn around, so I cannot see his face, but I imagine it's displeased. "But I cannot take the position."

The entire room sits in silence for a moment.

"Don't be irrational, Jiraiya." Shishou's opened his mouth. "The village needs a new generation of leadership."

 _But I thought you wanted to be Hokage._

Jiraiya turns back around. "A new generation isn't going to be me." If anything, he's even more angry now. "Call the kids the new generation. I'm an old foggy already." His gaze flicks back to me. "You'd have more of a chance of making the baby chunin over there Hokage after you, Sensei. Don't waste your time asking again."

 _Ah, so that's it._ I think at last. _Shishou knows that Jiraiya never wanted to be Hokage and any attempts to persuade him only makes him more angry._

So he can put on an outward face of goodwill and still want to be Hokage himself.

"Jiraiya." The Sandaime sighs, his face wreathed in a cloud of smoke. "I know that losing Minato was hard on you, but Konoha needs you."

The Yondaime had been Jiraiya's student. The Yondaime had died tragically young.

I'm struck by a sudden thought. _Of all the old people in this room, Jiraiya has the most in common with Shishou, when it comes to that._

Jiraiya of the Sannin had lost a student he loved dearly, so had Shimura Danzo.

Tou-san had died in the same year as the Yondaime.

What a strange thought that is.

There's nothing in his posture that screams tense, but he is one of the Legendary Sannin, and even so, he can make his displeasure felt by this entire room.

I take a breath and center myself. I must have grown since the Chunin Exams in Iwa. I'm halfway positive I would have keeled over by now at that age.

Then, I am over a year older.

"Thank you for reminding me about Minato, Sensei." Is all he says. "I'll have to go see if Naruto got any of the presents I sent him over the years."

Somehow, I expect the answer to that to be no.

And somehow, I am not surprised by this result. Why does the Sandaime mention Namikaze Minato? Why would he choose to play that card when it only makes Jiraiya angry?

 _If I'd lost a student to the Hokage position, I wouldn't want to take it either. It wouldn't feel right._

The door swings shut deceptively gently behind Jiraiya. Still, questions linger. What was the purpose of this meeting? Shishou hadn't expected Jiraiya to want to become Hokage, had banked on it really, and the Sandaime had pushed him away from it as well.

One does not become the man under the hat because one is completely tone deaf. So what does it mean?

"That could have gone better." Elder Homura comments. "Still, this conversation isn't over."

The Sandaime pockets the two scrolls Jiraiya had left on the desk. "Perhaps it's better this way." He sighs. "Jiraiya is too concerned with Orochimaru to be comfortable with staying in the village."

The entirety of this meeting has been very...unresolved.

I don't have enough pieces, and that leaves me very concerned. Still, I don't have all the pieces. I don't know what's going on, and I have nothing I can do about this to begin with, so I let it be.

As far as I can let it be anyway.

It gets filed away. A thought to be kept for later.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so concludes the Days of the Dead. We have more Fugaku-Sasuke interactions, an arm wrestling contest, and Jiraiya back in town with some info on Orochimaru.

We head into more fun situations in the next one, which, if I'm looking at my notes correctly, might be the longest arc I have planned so far.

Hopefully everyone kept warm during the cold snap. (It's what allowed me to write this chapter, so thank god for snow days.)

And of course, if you want to talk, Bloodless now has a discord. (invite on my profile) I also post chapter previews and you can ask me about spoilers if that's your cup of tea.

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed.

~Tavina


	78. The Councilor's Apprentice Arc: One

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

When I attempt to check my clearance level with the desk chunin on the bottom level of the Tower whose business it is to care about such affairs, he shoots me a look of incredulous fascination after he does in fact, check my file.

"It says here at the discretion of Elder Shimura for records above general chunin clearance level."

Ah. Pleasant. Unlimited clearance and unlimited observation as to what I'm doing with that clearance. Despite being rather pleasant to me, and having hidden depths and understandings and being so much more _human_ than I'd ever expected of him, Shishou is not to be trusted.

Not that way. Not unflinchingly, not unconditionally, and maybe not at all.

I had just _seen_ him in a meeting where he played both the Sandaime and Jiraiya of the Sannin against each other with three other people watching and at least two others none the wiser.

I had seen it with my own two eyes.

I had heard why Koma-senpai blinded himself with my own two ears.

And still I forget.

Still I forget, because he is so inimitably human — with his flaws and with his loves and with his fixations.

He is hardly the cartoonish villain I thought he was, so I forget.

I give the desk chunin a tight lipped smile. "I see. Thank you."

I don't want to forget. And I don't want to forgive.

I'd entered his apprenticeship with trepidation but with determination to bring him down. And I might bury this thought for years — I have no _proof_ — but I will not forget.

I cannot forget.

Fu drops from the ceiling when I exit the Tower and follows me out the door. He is silent for the most part, though not stealthy enough for my ears to miss him.

"Don't you have something else you have to be doing?" I ask him.

He's young too, not that much older than I am. Maybe only a year or two separates us in age. He might very well have been in our class if he'd ever gotten the chance to go to the Academy.

Maybe we would've been friends, like Toku and I are friends, or like Mu-kun and I are friends, or maybe even siblings like Ita-kun and I are siblings, or maybe we wouldn't know each other like myself and most of my graduating class. I don't cultivate that many friends, and I've lost touch with most of the classmates I had in the Academy.

If he had that chance.

I ought to remember who stole the chances from him.

I cannot forget.

"No." Fu continues to walk along behind me. "This one does not have anything else he has to be doing."

He'd repeated my words back to me. I try another question. "Is there anything else you _want_ to be doing?"

He has excellent posture. No slouching down the street for him, unlike so many of my acquaintances — Sensei, Kakashi, recently even Ita-kun's picked up the posture much to Chichi's dismay. He had groused about it once while we walked home from the Station. I had to muffle a laugh.

"No, there is not, Hana-hime." He says without the slightest hint of irony. "This one does not have any particular desires."

I'm half afraid that if I have to spend too much time with him being so blank, I'd attempt to shake him back and forth to find the emotions I know are in there. He had them earlier. Why doesn't he have them now?

I try yet another question. "Is there anything else _Shishou_ would like you to be doing?" There's a way to solve this riddle, there really is, but I'm not asking the right questions.

It's like throwing darts at a board across a stadium in the dark.

I keep missing the board. Except I don't think he even knows that there _is_ a board. He probably thinks he's being helpful providing these answers, and if he does wonder about anything, he's probably wondering why we're having such an extended discussion about his motives to begin with.

By the blank look on his face, I've missed once more. "No, there is not anything else Danzo-sama would like this one to do."

I take a deep breath and change my path to the direction of Mufu-an, quietly apologizing to Kiba in my mind as I go. It seems like this trip will take a rather long time instead of the relatively short meeting I'd promised him..

If he's not going to run away and he seems intent on following me without even pretending to be nonexistent like ROOT Agents do normally, then I'll just have to plumb his depths for answers.

This might take a while.

He follows behind me, obedient as a very well trained puppy.

* * *

At Mufu-an, it takes a bit of pulling and pushing to force him into the seat across from me at our small table. I'm not sure it's a wise decision to bring him here, but I figure that I would at least like a place that is comforting to me rather than somewhere I know nothing about, and it's hardly possible that Shishou doesn't know that my team comes here rather frequently.

It wouldn't be like an overly autocratic old man to _not_ keep tabs on his only living apprentice, so he probably knows my favorite tea house already without Fu reporting back to him. He probably knows a great deal more about me than my favorite teahouse.

My age, birthdate, height, mission record, hobbies, habits, favorite people...it's likely he knows _everything_ or almost everything. The only thing he doesn't know is how much I know about him. He doesn't know that I remember another life, no one does, and I would like to keep it that way.

My former life is unimportant. All that matters is who I am now. The forward momentum of this life has taken over.

I've shed who I used to be.

I would find this more chilling, I would, but I know he doesn't feel _nothing_ about me, and what I know hasn't gotten me killed yet. I've left behind who I was long ago; I don't even remember her, not her name, not her face, not her life, not the language she spoke, not what she wore, not what she ate, so why should I find her so important?

She's not me. She didn't live on. Somewhere between now and rebirth she'd died.

All I have left are the stories.

Despite everything else that has blurred and grayed out, my mind still keeps the stories.

I can't live forever in a state of panic. While it is good to be wary, I am not in immediate danger, and panic only wastes energy I don't have to spare.

I leave what Shimura Danzo may or may not know about me alone for now.

"Teach me how to ask you the right questions." I tell him as we wait for our tea.

He didn't order a tea, having looked truly rather baffled by the menu, so I ordered for him.

When in doubt, green tea is always a proper tea. It's not as sweet as chrysanthemum tea, not as fragrant as rose tea, not as bitter as black tea, but something of a middle ground.

The most traditional of all teas is green tea. Sensei had taught us to judge a teahouse by the quality of their green tea, much like how you'd judge an ice cream store by the quality of their vanilla ice cream.

Who knows, maybe he'd even like it. Maybe he's never had to order something off a menu before. I don't know what ROOT Agents do when they aren't being ROOT Agents.

I get the feeling that one day soon I'd find out, but as of right now, I am very much in the dark. Left to only my imagination, I can only draw my own unhappy conclusions. Are ROOT Agents ever _not_ ROOT Agents?

"This one doesn't know what you mean." He sits with perfect posture too, though rather tensely, as if expecting to have to kill a man at any moment. Not for the first time, I wonder how effective ROOT Agents really are at the long term sleeper agent business.

How could they be effective when the most representative sample I've got is Fu who doesn't act like a normal, functioning _shinobi_ much less a normal functioning civilian? The average shinobi is able to tell that Fu is slightly off. He is incapable of passing as a civilian. Like, shinobi are strange, but civilians most certainly do not sit in tense compact postures as though they'd have to spring up and murder the waitress at a moment's notice.

Maybe the sleeper agents are better trained than Fu. Still, all that tension's going to give him muscle problems. At the very least, future back problems.

"Alright." I take a sip of my chrysanthemum tea and gesture for him to at least drink a little bit of the tea in front of him. I want to know that "If you are just going to answer my diplomatic questions with diplomatic answers, then we need to try this a different way."

Hesitantly, he picks up the wooden teacup and raises it to his lips. It is still steaming — _He's going to burn himself on that._

"Stop." I pull it away from him and blow over the top until it cooled enough that I could hand it back to him. "You'll burn yourself if you drink steaming tea. Burns are painful, you know."

He stares at me for a long time, but he does take it. I count it as a win nonetheless. No burning the hopeless ROOT agent with his tea.

I just wish everything else was as easy.

"Now. I'm going to ask a question." I sit back down. " _Why_ are you following me?"

"Because that is this one's duty." _I have orders._

Well that's not concerning, not at all. "Your duty is to follow me." I have to repeat him because I'm not certain that I heard him properly.

"Yes." He says, still perfectly blank. If he were any other person, there'd probably be some judgement — I'd just repeated a very simple sentence — but he's entirely expressionless. I could grow to hate that, I think.

I know he has expressions. I know he has emotions. He's just not using them right now.

At the moment though, I'm more concerned about what he's going to say after yes, since he's just opened his mouth again.

"It is this one's duty to prevent your death on your way to the Inuzuka Clan Grounds."

This is too hysterical. I burst out laughing right there in the middle of the teahouse. "What, I'm going to get crushed by a passing grocer's cart on my way home? Beheaded by a flying cabbage? Slip on a watermelon peel and crack my head open?" I wave a hand in his general direction for him to go. "It's alright for you to go, you know?"

It doesn't work.

Fu is still my lingering shadow on my way home.

At least he leaves afterwards though. I see him slip past the garden gate and vanish over the rooftops.

One of these days, I'm going to learn how to ask him the right questions...and it better be soon.

* * *

Hosting the chunin exams is a village wide effort though the tests are, for the most part, planned and proctored by the senior chunin committee upon basic rules and guidelines agreed upon with the Hokage.

I hear all the details from Toku, as we sit on the walkway outside his house. He's invited me over for orange juice and pastries. Or well, a spar and then snacks afterwards. We'd finished the spar, so now it's time for snacks afterwards.

"There's a team from Iwa coming to this exams, did you hear?"

"Where'd you hear that?" I know Toku loves information and telling other people information — he's a horrible gossip — but unless he's gotten his hands on a list of teams, I haven't the faintest clue how he would know that Iwa's sending a team to the exams.

My shishou is Shimura Danzo, and I didn't even know that. Granted, this is probably because Shishou isn't in the mood to talk about foreign genin when he could be teaching me about say, the current state of affairs with the Raikage, which, by the way, is not amazing.

Just because he knows something isn't reason for me to know about it, and I hadn't asked him anything, so it stands to reason he wouldn't tell.

"Overhead it in the chunin breakroom." Toku shrugs. "The chunin exam planning committee was surprised that we're getting a team from Iwa this time around at all."

Of the five great nations, Konoha-Iwa relations have _never_ been good — at the moment, only Konoha-Kumo relations are worse. And the only reason Konoha-Kumo relations are so bad is because of the Hyuga Incident that nearly sparked another war.

And well, the death of my grandfather on the eve of the second war. The Inuzuka still haven't forgiven Kumo for that, though in the very beginning, Kumo and Konoha had stood together against Iwa. Though we don't influence Konoha Politics as much as say the Hyuga, the Uchiha, or even the Nara, the Hokage still has to keep our feelings in mind when he considers Konoha's allies.

Kumo had killed Konoha's ambassador in a carefully planned, gruesomely executed maneuver to force Konoha into the war. The ambassador had just been another piece on the Go board that they've discarded.

As a consequence, I never got to meet my grandfather.

He was slaughtered and sent home to Konoha in a body bag. I learned of this story from Uncle Kegawa who was still halfway on the verge to rage.

It was the way he said "My baby _sister_ had to see what they did." It was the way his voice broke.

That's how I know that this blood debt was never cleared.

So yeah, it's pretty unusual that we're getting a team from Iwa, considering that this is the first time Konoha's hosted a chunin exams since the Third War began.

"It must be because we went to the Iwa Exams." We'd been one of two teams to go to the exams the last time Iwa was on the rotation. Team Ensui made finals, and we'd nearly had a diplomatic incident. "They're probably here to prove their goodwill."

The Sandaime had gone all the way to Iwa to watch the finals, despite our team not being part of such an important graduating class. "This show of commitment to peace is what they're looking for." It might not be the truth — the Tsuchikage might be planning a new war and just scoping out the Konoha forces — but he's going to do a good job of pretending to commit to peace. He has to, the play can't go on without it.

This international Go board just gets worse with every move. There's thousands of variables, thousands of pieces in play, some hidden from sight, some extremely obvious.

Toku shudders. "Oh don't remind me Hana. That trip was the worst."

"I agree." I take another bite of my sweet bun. "Let's not think of it again." So many things about our trip to Iwa had gone wrong. Ita-kun, and then Sensei and then Dei-kun and just so many other things had blown up in our faces. "So what else did you hear in the Chunin Breakroom?"

He shoves me lightly with his shoulder. "Go to the breakroom yourself. I never see you there."

I've never been to the Chunin Breakroom before, partly because I've been busy, but also partly because I'm not the most sociable person. I have a circle of friends, a family and a group of acquaintances, people who teach and inspire me, but I don't really go out and try to meet new people.

New people have a tendency to find me.

I've also not taken that many chunin missions. I don't even know all that many of my fellow chunin. Beyond Team Ensui, I have exactly zero chunin friends.

This...doesn't bother me as much as it probably should. My life is complete enough as it is. I can't ask for much more.

"But why would I go there if I've got you to tell me all about it?" What would I even visit the breakroom _for?_ There's no one there I want to see, and even less reason for me to go to meet new people. I know enough people.

He casts me a disgruntled look. "You wound me Hana-chan. Am I only a source of information to you?"

"Oh Toku, you know you're so much more." I frown at him. "Can't you tell me about it?"

"Because I love you so, Hana-chan." He laces his hands together behind his head and leans back against one of the pillars. "Two teams from Kusa. Five from Suna. Two from Kiri. One from Kumo and eleven from Konoha. You've heard about the team from Iwa already."

50% participation from the host village then. That seems reasonable. Toku's information is really detailed for someone who just happened to be there to overhear plans in the chunin breakroom. I would suspect that he and Kiho-bachan are up to something again, but I've no proof of that.

And even if he is, it's relatively harmless so who am I to dig too deep?

"You're so nice." I sigh contently as I lean back against his shoulder. "You know I love you too."

Toku chugs his orange juice, wiping the stray droplets away with the back of his hand. "The team that loves one another, stays together."

"Always." I promise him. "We're always going to stay together."

"Mmmm." He agrees. "Orange juice?"

I take the cup he offers me, and we while away another afternoon in the shadow of peace.

* * *

I have not taken the time to think about what it means to the general public of the village when shinobi host the chunin exams. I'd forgotten, since Konoha hasn't hosted a Chunin Exam in my lifetime, but every single person in the village is affected by the upcoming exams.

I have a new appreciation for the civilians of hidden villages really. They're a hardy bunch of people to keep living side by side with another group of people who don't share their customs and seem superhuman and strange.

For those who live on the top floor, they suffer the clattering of shinobi running over their ceilings.

For those with decorations at street level, they deal with the overeager genin using substitution jutsu and leaving their belongings halfway down the street.

They live next to shinobi who booby trap their windows and doors, react to mundane situations in violent ways, and at any moment could go on a violent murder spree that would leave them dead.

Yet they are still generally friendly and also have favorite shinobi.

In a hidden village, both work and leisure are shinobi-centric; policies are dictated by the Hokage, and while civilians, at times, graduate the Academy and go on to become part of genin teams, most of Konoha's upper echelon consists of the best of the clans.

I live in a world where birthright matters, and I'd been born far ahead of the rest. Born to a good family, born to a peaceful time, born to good genes and a useful kekkei genkai, born to talent, born daughter to a clan that values daughters.

I am lucky.

And that humbles me, because we all think we get along by ourselves, that our successes are made of our hard work and nothing else.

But I know that's a lie. We all live in a moving web, in a crazy, pulsing, shifting world.

And I am only a product of that, despite what joy I might try to claw out of it. I am a product of the parents who raised me, the siblings that love me, the pack that supports me, the village that nurtures me. I am a product of a great many people's efforts.

"Our patrol schedule has to change in light of the upcoming exams." Naka's been promoted in Inabi's absence. Not officially, since he's still just an officer like the rest of us, but he's been taking on more responsibility, so it might as well be the same thing. As it is, he's taken over handling changes in patrol schedule. "We would ideally have more man power, but the situation earlier this year has left us with little choice but to work longer hours."

Right.

The incident with the fake drug ring.

There was fire, and pain, and a brilliant, but sometimes strict man was crippled, other people were injured, and a young man who was a friend to a small boy and his dog was killed.

More had died.

More had struggled.

And more had felt the pain from the loss.

I am lucky, I think again. For I have survived.

Naka passes out our schedules, our partners, and our districts for the next few weeks. I am placed with him.

For a brief moment, I wonder if Chichi has now passed the torch onto him now that Inabi isn't around in the Station anymore, but I remember that we've worked together before, and perhaps he just wanted to…

Work with me again.

Yeah, that might be too optimistic. The last time we worked together was during the fake drug ring case, and we'd suffered a lot about it in the meantime. I can't imagine why he would willingly choose to be cursed with that kind of luck again without at least a suggestion from my mostly overprotective and definitely not heartless Chichi.

It can't have been for my stunning personality and relatively good relationship with him.

I can't help but think that this sort of coddling doesn't really help anyone in the end. Sure, it saves Chichi the worry in the moment, but I don't grow, and neither does anyone around me.

Perhaps sometime I'll mention it. For the moment, there's patrol.

* * *

"I know we didn't get off on the best foot last time." He runs a hand through his hair and offers me a hand. "I'm Uchiha Naka. Pleased to meet you."

I take it. "Inuzuka Hana." Why he is doing reintroductions now, I don't have any good clues. Still, it's not deeply rooted in me to question good fortune.

I might as well take what I can get. He's willing to start over, and I'm willing to do that too. We'll get along just fine. Well, unless something else goes wrong, but we'll burn that bridge when we get to it.

We shake on our reintroduction. "We have Section 3 of District 5 don't we?" That is a bit of a hike from the Station, but nothing that's terribly difficult. Section 3 borders the Naka River, a nice enough neighborhood, a bit more run down than I am used to as a clan child.

The districts don't really have sharp boundaries, per se, not really that many hard edges, blurring together for most people. Unless you're into administrative architecture, or city planning, it's hard to say exactly where the boundaries are between districts one through eight.

It's only Yoshiwara that's clearly delineated, different, set apart from the rest.

"We do." He spins me around much more kindly than he did last time, checking to make sure I have everything — nightsticks, radio, various odds and ends, fine notices...not that I've ever seen anyone use those...and a very small and functional notepad. "Have you learned how to use your nightsticks? I recall you abandoned them last time about half a minute into the fight."

"Chichi gave me some lessons." I am grateful for the education on a different philosophy as well. Most shinobi are not trained to disarm before killing.

Or at least, my education with wartime protocol in place did not offer much in the way of nonviolent de-escalation. Yet, that's part of the Uchiha approach to fighting and confrontation down here at the Station. Everyone disarms before going for the kill.

It makes me wonder.

When Itachi came for them, when they died, were they...trying to—

I can't finish the thought. I can't. Training doesn't leave anyone so easily.

Naka leans in when we get out of the Station. "I'll teach you some other tricks Taicho wouldn't show a beginner." He shrugs at my incredulous look. "What, despite being clan head, Taicho doesn't know _everything_ about the Uchiha tonfa tradition. Not to mention, he has a very slow teaching style."

"I bet I know more than you think," I mutter. I had noticed that Chichi taught slowly, preferring that I at least demonstrate competence in a stance before moving onto the next one.

He's often impatient, and only accepted perfection. No one would be able to half heartedly learn anything from him. He's often impatient, but he's getting better. I have high hopes that by the time he has to teach Sasuke Katon Jutsu, he'll no longer be so disappointed, or act so irritated.

I might not mind as much because I'm a bit insensitive to such things to begin with, but insensitive is nowhere in Sasuke's vocabulary.

He'd be hurt. Intensely.

Sasuke thinks the world of his father, but that doesn't mean he understands the Police Chief, the Clan Head, or the Father.

No, Sasuke loves unquestioningly, without much understanding at all, but he has to grow up to learn all the layers of this conversation he can't understand yet.

"We'll see about that." Naka grins, a tilt to the corner of his mouth, a slight bit of mischief in his eyes. "One day, you'll admit that the stuff Taicho shows you isn't half so cool."

I frown at him. "Cool?" I kind of value useful more than I value cool. This is not a game.

"Cool." He agrees as we walk along the river. "Not everything has to be serious, even Taicho knows that."

I pause to think about that for a moment.

A long long moment.

I do do things for enjoyment. I do.

I _do_ , but not as much as I think I do. I don't have that many hobbies that don't relate to training, or missions, or studying jutsu. When I have the time, which is rarely, I like to read novels, though not of the Icha Icha variety. When I have the time, I like to take Kiba out to the park, or meet my friends for a meal.

I have a social reform project. Does that count as a hobby?

Naka laughs out loud. "That's the strangest thing I've heard all month, Hana-san."

"Hana-chan." Okami, did I say that out loud? _Who says, 'I have a social reform project. Does that count as a hobby?'_ "I'm younger than you, so I ought to be Hana-chan."

He takes a moment to consider this. "Then call me Naka." He decides at last. "Just Naka."

We continue on together.

We'll get along just fine.

* * *

"Have you learned anything about the Chunin Exams?" Shishou asks, somewhere between asking me about my most recent progress in Yoshiwara and my current studies.

I blink at him from the other side of the Go board, a white piece in my hand. "I didn't learn much."

"But you learned something." The board clacks as he sets down a black piece, picking off three of my white pieces. Hostages.

I'd planned for those to be taken. The upper left hand quadrant was where I'd staged my greatest trap. If I execute it correctly, I'd take 15 of his pieces off the board. It's pointless in the grand scheme of things — he's a far better Go player than I am; I'm still learning his tricks, his habits, and his moods — but I want this ploy to succeed at least.

I want something to succeed.

I've been sitting on the other side of this board playing Go with him for some months now, and still he's immovable, like a hawk watching from the mountaintop, nothing gets past him.

"I heard about the team breakdown." Thank heavens for Toku really. His love of gossip has given me something to talk about.

I stare at the board, wondering where best to plant the bait.

"Go on." Doubly so. I have to choose a move. I have to tell him what I know.

"Twenty-two teams." I place another white stone on the board. The trap's baited now. All I can wonder about now is if he'll bite. "Eleven from Konoha. Two from Kiri. Five from Suna." I pause to think about it. I've listed 18 teams. Four more. "One from Kumo. Two from Kusa and one from Iwa."

He places another piece on the board, the position seemingly random.

I bite back a curse. A blind spot. I'd focused too hard on the trap I'd been setting to notice the impending attack.

How can I not see the bigger picture. I was too focused on the piece of the board in front of me. I still have a hard time looking at the whole board, and not hyperfocusing on one part.

I pause over the board. Well, now I've noticed, the situation isn't unsalvageable yet.

Click. Another white stone on the board between us.

"Is that all?" He asks.

"The Chunin Committee is surprised by the teams from Iwa and Kumo." I really don't know that much of about the Chunin Exams. I'm not on the planning committee considering I'm still a junior chunin. "Our relationships with those nations have always been poor."

"And why do you suppose they'd send teams to the exams?" He sets another stone on the board. His dark eyes entirely shadowed. I cannot read him, not when he's on the other side of the Go match. At other times, he's less guarded, but this one activity, we're simulating two nations taking passes at each other in the dark.

I suppose I should be thankful he's not serious about destroying me, for I have no delusions. If Shimura Danzo wanted me gone, I'd be gone.

"It's the first time Konoha has hosted the Chunin Exams since the war." I'd thought about this before. It's easy enough to lay it out in words. "And this is the first time foreign shinobi will see the inside of Konoha since then. I'm sure they can't pass up the opportunity."

No, under the guise of peace they will look at all the nooks and crannies of Konoha, probing for weaknesses.

It's almost refreshing to talk to someone about this. I have friends it's true, but I've never had anyone to discuss politics with before Shishou and these matches. The people I live among are shinobi — we see our little slice of the moving web that is the politics of the Elemental Nations: mission records, the lives and deaths of those close to us, new policies only as they affect us.

It's almost refreshing to talk to someone about this. If only I could forget who my shishou is. If only I could forget, I'd live so much more freely, more happily, unconcerned with curbing my tongue and my expressions.

But happiness made out of ignorance is worse than no happiness at all.

What I don't know _can_ hurt me.

Click. Another black stone blocking another retreat. I am running out of options. The trap will not work anymore.

This battle ends with my death then. There's nothing I can pry from him. The frustration I feel is tempered only by my hesitance to express it.

Shishou nods, more to himself than myself. "At least you drew some conclusions from what information you have."

I don't understand it, how he could make even faint praise taste like victory. He is not a man of easy praise, so even that one nod can mean the entire world. I am elated by the barest hint of a compliment. Is this how the ROOT Agents who serve him feel?

Their loyalty isn't bought by fear, or at least not completely. They wouldn't serve him with so much devotion if they did not at least love him somewhat.

Ruling by fear has never bought absolute loyalty the way that ROOT is absolutely loyal to Shimura Danzo.

I do not love him, do not respect him as an apprentice ought to respect their shishou, do not even like him, but I admire his strengths at least. Shimura Danzo is ruthless and with that ruthlessness is a certain brutal efficiency.

There's only one branch of the military in Konoha that runs like well oiled machinery, crushing their enemies beneath sandaled feet. No insubordination, the lowest mission failure rate, some of the village's best shinobi — ROOT is officially sanctioned still. These records are available to the general public, or at least the public that wants to look for them. The man across from me sits firmly at the head of that branch. I can at least admire how good he is at what he does.

I slap another white stone onto the board. A suicidal move given where it's placed, but I am frustrated enough to disregard long term planning at the moment.

"Is that all?" He asks me, the pile of hostages on his side getting larger as he picks more of my pieces off the board.

He's the master of despair too. The master of making accomplishments look like grains of sand.

"That's all." I watch as the board is overrun with black pieces.

There's amusement in his dark eyes when I look up. "You're young." He rumbles. "There's time enough for you to grow."

So I wasn't even able to hide my frustration from him.

Well, he didn't live to be his age because he was easy to fool, and he certainly didn't get to sit where he is now because he was easy to kill.

I take a deep breath. "Should I know more about the Chunin Exams?"

He doesn't give me a straight answer. "The news all over the Chunin Breakroom." The rebuke is made mildly, but the atmosphere of the room is anything but mild. "You've never been." _That is a mistake you will have to stop making._

"I don't see why I would go." I'd thought about this too. It's not like I'm searching for more friends.

"And now?" He asks me, heavy gaze weighing every ounce of me, every pound of flesh, like he can read every thought between my ears.

"It's a source of information I've neglected." I won't be able to neglect it in the future. While I could just ask Toku about the goings on of our fellow chunin, it seems I ought to go and see for myself at least somewhat frequently.

"The most unlikely of friendly acquaintances can mean much."

I suppose he would know. He does, after all, have the Sandaime in his back pocket. What he has and what he can do is made so much easier by the willful ignorance of his 'friend.'

But how much of their relationship is friendship and how much of it is useful stepping stone from my shishou's perspective, I haven't the faintest idea. I haven't the faintest idea how he could tolerate Sarutobi Hiruzen for upwards of fifty years if they aren't at least somewhat friends. I haven't the faintest idea how he could use Sarutobi Hiruzen the way he does if they are truly friends.

Like many things, this part of life has no hard and fast answer either.

* * *

 **A.N.** And so it begins, chunin exams again, but with Hana as a spectator. The Go games are starting to change as well, mirroring Hana's relationship with Danzo as it shifts and moves. No relationship is ever static, and it's only fair that the Council Elder and his apprentice learn to get along.

My apologies for leaving this story for so long. I've been very busy at university these past few months, and unfortunately, my muse likes to wander, so other works in progress took more of a front seat. I can't promise that there are faster updates in the future (I've learned to promise nothing in terms of updates at all) but summer is around the corner, and with it comes more time (I hope) to write and relax.

Thank you to all the amazing people who have reviewed, followed and favorited over the past few months. Bloodless passed 2k favorites between this update and the last, and I am so deeply humbled and grateful that this bit of self indulgence has been so well received.

~Tavina


	79. The Councilor's Apprentice Arc: Two

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

Two days later, I slip into the Chunin Breakroom on the south side of the Tower. It's mid-afternoon, and the place bustles with noise and the strong unmistakable scent of instant coffee.

I'm not opposed to coffee.

Working in the same office as Chichi has ruined me for all sorts of coffee love, even though I still prefer tea. It's hard to leave behind one's roots, and my roots are grounded in my love for Sensei...and flower tea.

But the thing is, Chichi prefers quality coffee — I half suspect that if anyone ever brought instant coffee into the Station, everyone within a ten foot radius would hiss their disapproval just on instinct — and instant coffee is not quality coffee.

I resist the urge to scrunch up my nose in disapproval and slide my way down the wall towards an open seat in the corner.

I can't avoid the breakroom any longer, but that doesn't mean that I find this sort of social situation fun. It's...unstructured.

There's something to be said for structure. It helps us keep our relationships tangible. It helps to be around people that I'm comfortable with. There's something about structure, about familiarity, about being around people that you know and have known you for a long time.

It's comfortable.

Which is a long way of saying, I'm horrible at small talk, and I can't imagine what I'd say to someone when I'm here sitting in the room like a dolt.

I'm among strangers here. All we share really, is the flak jacket and living in Konoha proper.

Ni whines. "It's loud in here."

San casts him a very bewildered glance. "Lots of places are loud."

"He means its loud, and we don't know anyone." Ichi flops onto the floor at my feet. "Why did we come to the loud and noisy place?" He asks me almost balefully, turning his pleading eyes in my direction as though I had begged him to come.

No, they decided to tag along and play around because they heard I wasn't going to "a boring place to sit around" today.

Well, the joke's on them, because I've gone to a boring place to sit around.

"Because we should be making friends." I tell Ichi with a mock seriousness that he seems to take offense to.

"Well, we aren't doing a very good job then." He looks so serious. It's like he actually means it for my benefit. Knowing Ichi tho, he's mostly snarking because he wants to go home.

 _Ouch. That hurts._

"It's friends time?" Ni perks up. "I love friends!"

"But we haven't made any friends." San huffs as he lays his head in my lap. "When are we making the friends?"

"As soon as you three let me?" Well, this isn't exactly true, given that my track record for making friends is uh, not particularly good looking. _Do I even have a friend I haven't suffered a near death experience with?_

 _Exactly what form of crazy does it take for that to happen?_

Now that I think about it, the shinobi lifestyle doesn't really allow for casual friendships quite as much as the civilian one. When you have people you trust to watch your back in the moments between life and death, it's hard to see other relationships as more than... _bland._

Not that casual friendships are necessarily bad, but I've never been good at pretending to like people that I don't, and I'm not a social butterfly who charms people easily. I hand that title over to Kiba who wears it like a crown.

I'm stilted in my communication especially when I lack purpose, and now that I have friends, it's easy enough just to not make any new ones.

This would be less of a problem if I didn't have Shishou looking over my shoulder, I suppose, and it _isn't_ wrong that I am neglecting a source of potential information by not coming to the breakroom. The Council Elder has already decreed it. I ought to obey or I'd be very very stupid.

I don't want to know what courting Shishou's ire for something so trivial gets me in the end.

So I sit down in the Breakroom even though I don't want to go. I open my ears, and I _listen,_ letting the conversation here wash over me.

I might not be the best tracker, but I've always been good at remembering stories.

"So does that mean that the Tsuchikage—"

" — Need to get that from…"

"Your first time here?"

I jolt back into the present moment. _The Tsuchikage. Remember that and think of it later._

The young man in front of me has a scar over his nose. He's smiling. "It's a bit overwhelming the first time you're here isn't it?

I smile at him. "Yeah." I offer him a hand. "Inuzuka Hana." Well, I'm here to make friends anyway, what better way to start than the person who walked over to introduce himself?

"Umino Iruka." The name should...it feels familar, but I can't place it.

 _Where do I know that from?_ I can't place it, so I shake the thought away.

"Nice to meet you, Umino-san." He's not that much older than me either. Maybe a year or two older than Toku or Mu-kun...which makes him roughly five years or so older than me, but still that's not _that_ much older.

"Just Iruka, Inuzuka-chan." He rubs the back of his neck. "Umino-san makes me feel old."

"Then just Hana for me." I almost laugh at the idea that he'd feel old if I called him Umino-san. Someone who's barely fifteen shouldn't feel old because of an honorific of all things.

"You're a new chunin then?" Iruka-san drops into the chair next to me and slumps into the cushioned back gratefully. "I haven't seen you around before."

I laugh. "Well, not exactly…" It's been a little over a year now since I made chunin in Iwa. "I made chunin during the Iwa exams last year."

He looks at me for a moment before recognition breaks through to the surface. "Oh! You're Tokuma-kun's Inuzuka teammate, right?" He beams. "He's been around a lot."

"Yeah, I am." His cheer is infectious. "Why am I not surprised that Toku's a social butterfly?"

"And your other teammate is Muta-kun." Iruka-san ponders something for a moment. "Actually, Muta-kun visits the breakroom about this time every week. I'm surprised he isn't here."

I shrug. "A product of my luck probably." I have good luck in most circumstances, but social good luck isn't exactly one of them.

"No matter." He stands and offers me a hand up. "Let's introduce you to the regular members of the chunin club, alright?"

* * *

There was the possibility that the Tsuchikage would come to these Exams. Therefore... _Dei-kun._

I can expect my cousin in Konoha with the start of the first exam, maybe a little before. It's another tidbit of information I'd managed to glean in between Iruka introducing his various acquaintances and friends to me. I'm not sure that I want to tell Shishou this, but it's important for safe keeping as well. I can't be surprised if I know it's coming.

The introductions felt like the first day of class all over again, except the first day of class, I wasn't the only newcomer.

I haven't had the weight of that many eyes on me in a long time. I mean, I've spent a good deal of time trying to not attract the deadly attention of people who could eat me for breakfast and failing, but there's something unsettling about being the focus of a crowd that's different than sitting across the table from an old man in a international game of Go.

Still these thoughts are distant as I make my way down a dusty street in the direction of Sensei's house. The summer heat has finally broken, and we're sliding more and more rapidly into the fall with every passing day.

There's something to be said about autumn in Konoha. It leaves the world stunned in colors every shade of bright.

As one might guess, the Village Hidden in the Leaves is home to a _lot_ of leaves that change colors in the fall — red, orange, brown, yellow, purple, pink — like most shinobi, I take to the roofs instead of experiencing Konoha at street level, but the afternoon's not over yet, and there's been no wind for several days.

It has been a dry fall, like kindling set out waiting for the spark of a flame, and the leaves crackle under my feet as I hop from one roof to another all the way to Sensei's house.

I hadn't been specifically invited over, but I have a standing invitation, or I did the last time I checked. I ignore that such an invitation might have been revoked when I became Shimura Danzo's apprentice. My last conversation with Sensei was not...the most pleasant of memories.

One last roof hop, I swing onto the street, landing softing in another pile of leaves that crack underfoot before making my way past the gated garden and up the little stone path between the stalks of goldenrod.

The door swings open before I have the chance to knock. "Hana-chan!" Kiho-bachan wraps me in a tight hug before pulling me into the house and down the hall to the kitchen. "I haven't seen you in a while, you must've been busy."

The last time I was here Sensei had asked to take a break. Kiho-bachan was here too.

He'd been the one to ask me not to visit so often anymore. If he hadn't asked, I have no doubt I'd be here frequently, weekly at least.

It's a bit different than being _busy,_ but—

I smile. "Yes, it's been a busy summer hasn't it?" I can't mention that. She didn't forget, so there's a reason she's not mentioned it. "How've you been?"

She doesn't look like she's back to her old self, but she's happier, far brighter than I'd seen her last. That heartens me at least.

She turns around and squishes my cheeks together. "Don't worry so about us, Hana-chan. The Waste of Space is out right now, but I'm so happy to see you."

I smile back at him. "I'm glad to hear that Sensei's getting out of the house more now." For such a long time all he did was go to work, train us, and crash at his house. He'd been so busy for so long, and then injured and then after that sad.

I'm glad he found something more to live for and that his life doesn't revolve around being a workaholic who hid it from the rest of the world by pretending to be a Nara far lazier than the average Nara.

"Oh, he's been doing that quite a bit lately." She turns back to pulling items out of the refrigerator, humming as she does so, a strand of long dirty blonde hair coming loose from her low ponytail. "A good thing too. If he'd stayed in that slump forever I don't know what I'd have to call him."

She sets out a plate and joins me at the table.

Mochi. She still remembers my favorite dessert.

"Kiho-bachan, what about you?" I swing my feet back and forth, suddenly unsure of what I'm supposed to be doing and awkward. I've never felt this way at Sensei's house before.

It was always open to me before, but I'm not sure about that now.

And uncertainty is a curse. I don't know what to do with it.

"Oh don't worry about me, Hana-chan." She flashes me a bright grin. "I'm doing much better." She notices my disquiet a moment later, smile sliding slowly off her face. "Is there something wrong? You used to love mochi."

I reach out for a piece of the sweet rice dessert, a little too slow, a little too awkward. "No, there's nothing wrong." I still love mochi.

But sometimes when you come back to visit people you left on a bad note, even if you know that they love you, the bad note still lingers until it drags into awkward silence.

Like it is doing right now.

From beyond at street level, I hear the garden gate click open, Sensei whistling lightly, a series of nonsensical music notes, and there's the bright laughter of _someone someone familiar that I ought to…_

They are in the hallway now, two sets of feet, one unpracticed and young, the other Sensei's soft shadow walk.

"Well, if it isn't Hana-chan!" That's Sensei.

I whirl around. Sun yellow hair and bright blue eyes, three little whisker marks on either cheek, an infectious grin.

 _Be able to place them so familiar—_

Uzumaki Naruto bounces up and down next to Sensei who is slouched, his hands in his pockets.

"I thought I'd come by to visit." I had wanted to ask him to visit Tou-san, but now, in this moment, I don't.

I'm not going to ask him to remember the past when the past is so painful for him. He's done enough for Tou-san's memory to have been looking out for me all these years.

He's spent so long stressed and tired while pretending not to be, and right now, with five year old Naruto tugging at his sleeve and waving his arms about something or other, he looks happier than I've seen him in years. There are no bags under his eyes he's trying to hide with green face paint today. No he's better rested than he's been in months.

Not since the first time we met, when Tou-san asked him about a training regime for me have I seen Sensei so _happy_. So honest to goodness not stressed. _What right do you have to ask him for more things? He loves you enough already._

"But I was on my way out." I flash them a grin as I duck out of the kitchen and patter down the hall.

I get to the garden before Sensei's shadow catches me and I freeze into place like a single frame in a movie reel.

"Really Hana-chan, you're not even going to stay for tea?" He asks, drawl soft and low.

"Sensei, I have somewhere else to go." I really don't, but he doesn't know that.

 _Why am I running away so fast?_

 _Am I really this scared of an awkward situation? When did I become a coward?_

An Inuzuka doesn't run away, but that's exactly what I'm doing. It's easier to fight a foe than a friend, and it's even harder to fight someone who practically raised you.

"Then I'll walk with you." There's something about this that brooks no argument.

He won't let me go until I agree.

"I'd like that." I'd missed him. Missed him dearly. Sensei is Sensei is Sensei is _pack._ And I haven't seen him in months, not since before Bon anyway.

* * *

We walk along the river in silence for a bit, the passersby lending the only sound to our time together other than the crunch of leaves underfoot.

"You really didn't have anywhere you wanted to go." Sensei pins me with a _look._ "Mind telling me why you want to run away from me so fast?"

I scuff an leaf with the toe of my shoe, feeling suddenly very much like Kiba. "Well…" I trail off. How do I explain the feelings that I have? I can't just say 'I don't want you to be unhappy anymore and I feel like I only came here to check on how you were and ask you to remember past grief.'

"Uncertainty is a curse, Sensei." I settle for that at last. "And I am uncertain." _And therefore cursed._

"Is this about Naruto?" His hand lands on my shoulder. "You should know that I would never, _never,_ turn my back on you."

I know that. I truly do know it. "It's not about Naruto." Why would I begrudge an orphan any place in a family? I have plenty of people who support me and care about my well being. I don't mind _sharing._

Naruto deserves a family, deserves people to love and care for him and if Sensei and Kiho-bachan will then that's more than I could possibly hope for.

They'd be such great parents, the two of them.

"If it's not about Naruto, is it about me?" Sensei asks. Something about him looks hurt. "Is it because I asked you to be mindful of your Shishou's feelings?"

That is closer to the truth.

I nod. I don't trust myself to keep back all the words I need to keep at bay. There's so much I want to say to him. _Trust me to go the distance for you if you can bear to sacrifice so much for me. Let it be reciprocal. I might be a child with a child's hands, but I too can block a little bit of wind and rain for you._

 _Just let me try._

Sensei pulls me in for a hug. "You should know I'm not popular with the Hokage's Council." He whispers this in my ear under his breath. "But you are _always_ welcome in my house. Never think different Hana-chan." _No matter what you do or how far you go or how others judge you, you'll always be welcome with me, sprout._

"I'll remember." I whisper back.

He lets me go. "No tea time today, I suppose?" The corners of his eyes crinkle as he smiles. "I assume that you have other places you want to go and studies to attend to."

I smile up at him, and suddenly everything clicks back into their right places. "Well, I do have more training to do. Sensei, are you still willing to give me pointers?"

He ruffles my hair. "Of course."

Behind us, the sun slides towards the horizon, but this moment lasts outside of time and place.

Perhaps I'll always remember it as such.

* * *

I arrive at Shishou's office early the next Tuesday morning, with a several slightly less sweet desserts boxed in a gift box and carefully arranged to be aesthetically pleasing. I am not certain that he likes sweets, so I'd chosen some milder desserts than anything I'd give Chichi or Sensei. Later when I know, I'll be able to give better gifts.

I'd gone to the Uchiha Bakery that morning to pick them up fresh from the oven even before the bakery officially opened.

Uruchi-baachan had jokingly teased me for my small yawn and general aura of tiredness. A few jibes about the young sleeping late and rising early.

It is true that I spent my evenings after dinner working through various iterations of clay projects that go boom with various levels of success and that I'd started waking up half an hour before the sunrise to go over the katas Chichi had taught me for the nightsticks and my early morning runs with Kiba, Akamaru and the Triplets.

I suppose I've naturally adopted the habit of sleeping late and rising early. Still, I am neither overworked, nor underpaid even though the biweekly paychecks from the Station are far less money I'd be making if I ended up actually taking even a two week C-rank mission every month.

At least the paychecks are regular.

C-rank missions for a ten year old who doesn't have a set group of friends to run chunin missions with are highly irregular. Most chunin, I've now discovered, do have a semi-set group of people they work with on a regular basis and a certain type of mission they're likely to be called in for.

With that bit of knowledge from Iruka-san, I started to understand that I am...for lack of a better word, a fairly irregular chunin, even for one with a nominally active duty job that also regularly functions as a desk job.

But then, splitting my time between the Station and Shishou's office is entirely unique.

No one else is in both Uchiha Fugaku's good graces _and_ Shimura Danzo's. The two men have entirely opposing agendas on nearly all things despite sharing the same love of Konoha and the animosity between them had simmered slowly all summer.

Honestly, the thought is a little frightening so I don't dwell on it too heavily.

I'd never thanked Shishou for teaching me.

At the time I was too convinced that this was just another game he was playing, unimportant to him in the long scheme except that I could be used to threaten other people.

I'd thought my apprenticeship with him something that I had to survive. That I would live the next, unidentified number of years of my life keeping my head down, keeping my mouth shut, keeping everything I had close to my chest until one day I'd be able to stand in the sun again once more.

Upon looking back, I find it isn't so. I do have to survive this apprenticeship that's true. I have to survive my associations with Shimura Danzo. But no matter how frightening he is, it is also true that he is an old man.

An old man who uses a cane to hide the fact that his knees are no longer as spry as they used to be, even if he leans into the kindly act a little too far for the truth.

An old man who still grieves the loss of another apprentice, an old man who knows that he will one day die and need someone to fill his shoes.

An old man who does not know that I know so much of the horror that he's done. He is not out to hunt me.

And he had not chosen me specifically because he had some vendetta, if anything, it's likely that he chose me as his _duty._

Godfather. It is an important role, and I had never known or cared to thank him.

Even if we still do not see eye to eye, he has still taken his time to attempt to teach me lessons that I will need to survive.

He raises an eyebrow when I set the packaged bakery box with its neatly tied ribbon flourish down on the desk in front of him, but seems assume that this is some form of new breakfast tradition for me because he doesn't comment on it when he begins to speak. Instead, he chooses to ask me a different sort of question.

"How does one stop a massacre?"

The questions slaps me in the face once before I remember the decrypted documents we'd gone over yesterday regarding the bloodline massacre happening in Kiri. _He's not asking you about the Uchiha, do not, at any point even hint at the idea to him._

It is a dangerous time in the Bloody Mist, especially for children and families known for extraordinary skill in any particular ninja discipline that did not come about through hard work.

In Konoha, we value our kekkei genkai. In Kumo, they attempt to poach more kekkei genkai from other nations. In Kiri at the moment, a kekkei genkai is a death sentence.

How easily the winds of fortune turn.

I think back to the documents we'd gone over, how sentiments of the entire population had soured to a tipping point, and I know my answer. "You stop a massacre by never letting it begin."

The box on the desk between us is forgotten as I dig into the heart of the problem. "There is no good way to stop a massacre after it's begun, especially one filled with such virulent hatred as the bloodline massacres happening in Kiri because of the turn of public sentiment against kekkei genkai users." The court of public opinion weighs heavily on the minds of decision makers, and there is nothing so terrifying as a crowd ready to rip someone apart just for the sake of their blood.

Mob mentality is like a shiver of sharks, ready to latch onto the first potentially outrageous thing and beat it until it's dead.

"To stop a massacre you have to kill it in its crib before even the idea of it takes root." My own voice seems far away, distant and cold. It doesn't sound like it belongs to me.

I'm rewarded with a curt nod and a glance towards the box. "You didn't eat breakfast today?"

"No, I did." I glance down at the box. The pastries have probably cooled by now, no longer as fresh as they could've been if I had just _said_ that these were for him in the beginning. "These are for you. A present."

A silence falls so deep that I'm almost afraid of breaking it.

In the end, it's Shishou who breaks it. "A present?" If anything, he seems a little amused.

"I never thanked you." That's not the full sentiment. "For teaching me. I never thanked you for teaching me."

"There's no need to thank me." He does undo the ribbon and lift the lid of the box. "I chose to take an apprentice. If I didn't teach you it would defeat the purpose."

"And I choose to thank you." I have never been ungrateful for another person's helping hand before. I won't start now.

We all make our own choices. And I _choose_ to thank him. He has spent a not inconsiderable amount of effort and time on me. He's a busy man — busy doing terrible things, but busy nonetheless — and he had still decided to put in the effort to teach me how to _speak,_ how to _think,_ how to survive. That doesn't come cheap.

That doesn't come cheap, so I thank him.

* * *

It's a week after that in early October, when the chunin exams are set to begin that I again meet Deidara.

He arrives on a Sunday morning when I am out to scrape more clay from the Nakano for yet another go at the Explosion Release.

I've only been able to make other things shatter properly so far, and never from a distance like I saw Deidara do during the Chunin Exams.

The red clay of the Nakano doesn't...entirely mesh well with what I want to do with it, and I'm halfway resigned to either attempting to find a merchant who will import me white clay from a river in Iwa, or accepting that I might never be as proficient as Deidara.

But the second option is far down the list. At the moment, I'm planning another project, an empty bucket swinging behind me as I try to find a slightly cleaner patch of the riverbank to dig clay from.

The Nakano is polluted, waters slightly murkier than I remember, with bits of trash floating about.

Somewhere in the civilian council, they are not taking care of Konoha's most important waterway.

I make a mental note to think about this further before continuing to scan the riverbank. _Is there a place where I can complain about this? Is there a committee?_

"Cousin Hana, un!" I hear the shout behind me before I see him. "Cousin Hana, wait for me!"

I barely have the time to turn around. I see a flash of blond hair darting between the passersby on the street, and he's almost upon me, sandaled feet slapping through the dry leaves in a heavy crunch crunch crunch.

"Dei-kun!" I open my arms a few moments before impact.

He barrels into me, burying his face in my chest. "I missed you, Cousin Hana."

I hug him back tightly. "And I missed you, Dei-kun."

It's only been a year, but I've missed him terribly every time I look at his papers and the half of a clay spider I still have sitting on my desk. "Are you here for the Exams?"

I can't imagine why else he would be in Konoha. _If the Tsuchikage's student ran away, that information would have travelled to Konoha faster than Deidara could ever have gotten here. Not to mention, they'd never let him in at the gates no matter how innocent and childlike he looks._

Deidara's chakra coils are _immense_ compared to a civilian child of the same age.

Iwa had sent one team from what I remember. He must be on it. I'd suspected it, but I still need to confirm that he didn't actually run away.

"Un!" He nodes furiously. "Will be in the Leafy Village for two months!"

Two months. The entire span of the Chunin Exams then. He's confident he'll make it past the first two tasks.

Not that I expect anything different from him. Dei-kun is nothing if not impressive.

"And how have you been?" I pull him along. Clearly he has no idea where he is going. "And where's the team with you?" As far as I'm aware, a team for the chunin exams still needs three participants. Where are his temporary teammates? Where's his temporary sensei?

The Tsuchikage has _not_ arrived in Konoha, or I would've heard about it, and I'd never heard of him being on a team before.

He was always the Tsuchikage's apprentice.

He looks down and frowns. "I missed you." He tugs at my sleeve. "Made more things." He says. He doesn't comment about his temporary team. I can only assume he left them behind.

My heart almost breaks for him. I've known him for less than two whole months all told. We'd spent some time together, but not nearly enough for it to be worth it. It could cost him his life if someone found him out.

He gave me the secrets of Iwa's most coveted kekkei genkai.

 _Who made you this way, Dei-kun? So desperate for a family that you'll even betray your country for it?_

But then, maybe his country had never given him what he wanted.

 _All he wants is a family, and he's willing to do so much even for the small chance that it could be true._

And suddenly, he reminds me of another child with blond hair that I know.

Both close to a Kage. Both orphaned. Both lonely.

Naruto at least has Sensei and Kiho-bachan now to look after him. Who does Deidara have?

No one but me.

"Let's talk about that later alright?" I put an arm around his shoulders, thin, they seem thinner than I've seen him last, but I shove that thought away and guide him down yet another street.

"Un." He sounds less than thrilled at having to talk about his creations later. I swing the currently empty bucket to my other hand.

I search for something to distract him with. We can't not talk about what he's made this time, but I still have several things I want to say to him about what he gave me the last time. _Do you know how serious it would be if someone found out? You're the Tsuchikage's student, you can't not be at least a little aware._ "Do you want to meet my family?"

Kiba's home from what I'm aware, and so are my cousins. They wouldn't mind meeting a child certainly.

"What if they don't like me?" He asks, big eyes pleading.

"I'm sure they will." I ruffle his hair, and he's cheered by it at least a little.

* * *

"So, so, what's it like in 'nother country?" Kiba spreads his arms out wide. "Is it hot there?" His nose scrunches up. "I don't like it when it's hot."

"Iwa isn't hot." Dei-kun protests as he peers curiously over the slight fence around the puppy play area in the kennels. "And is it always so cold here, un?"

One of the tracker puppies trips over her own two feet and goes tumbling into the carpet. For the first time since I met him earlier, I see Deidara laugh in genuine amusement.

"It's not cold." Kiba protests. "Was super hot earlier today."

Noon had been scorching, though the sun was nowhere near as deadly as it was in Iwa during the exams.

Sure there is always water about in the Land of Rock, but the summer heat can disable you before you realize you need more water.

I head off the argument before Deidara can think to protest that it really wasn't all that warm at noon today compared to what he's used to. "Iwa is generally much hotter than it is in Konoha." Besides that, the muggy summer heat wave has broken with the onset of October even though there's still been no rain.

From what I heard from the merchants selling into Yoshiwara, it's been a bad year for crops and the rice prices have slide back up as farmers loose the driest parts of their paddies.

"Oh." Dei-kun falls into a silence as he continues to stare at the puppies and their adventures around the kennels.

He might not be able to understand their barking, but they're still adorable anyway.

"There's a place hotter than here?" Kiba mulls this over. "Well, 'suppose there's no trees cause village hidden in rocks can't grow big trees."

That's...one way to put it.

"Sunagakure no Sato is probably the hottest of all the hidden villages." I open the gate to the puppy area of the kennels. "And Kirigakure is the wettest, while Kumogakure is probably the coldest." Konoha is temperate for the most part.

"But we're in the Land of _Fire._ " Kiba frowns at this. "Fire should be hotter than earth or rocks or wind."

Alas it doesn't compute to me either. I shrug. "I don't think the Land of Fire was named for the heat here, Kiba-chan." I don't remember how Fire Country was named at all. We'd never discussed it in history class, and nothing that I read could ever explain it to me.

It wasn't Fire Country a long time ago, distantly murky enough that there were no good records kept, but even in our clan history, it was always known as Fire Country. The Inuzuka have always been a Fire Country Clan.

The elemental nations are named for certain geographical features yes, but in the nearly eleven years now that I've lived in Konoha, there was exactly one small forest fire that threatened to perhaps, leap onto a roof.

The Military Police had quickly solved that problem before it got out of hand. Otherwise, there were no major fires that I'd heard of.

Maybe there was a time when Fire Country...had more fires.

The answer of I don't really know seems to satisfy Kiba though, because he quickly tugs Deidara in to meet the puppies. "They don't have names yet because they don't have partners." I hear him tell Dei-kun. "But they are fun to play with."

Dei-kun doesn't make it two steps into the puppy area before being pounced on by two over enthusiastic dogs. He topples backwards, with a lap full of bouncing puppy and sits there shocked for a moment as his face is covered in happy dog slobber before bursting out into an honest fit of laughter. The puppies, sensing an appreciating audience, pile on bursting with words like friend and new and excitement.

Dei-kun might not be able to understand them, but the wriggling happiness of some twenty puppies is infectious enough that he doesn't have to.

Kiba grins, restraining himself from breaking into howls of laughter.

I watch them together for a long long moment, content despite the entire culture and country's worth of differences that separate them, and I wonder if it is impossible to have peace between the nations.

The Go board Shishou is teaching me to play — even if I only learn slowly — says that there will never be peace, but my heart still demands it, and from the depths of me, I am still willing to try.

Perhaps both ideals are true in a sense. The nations might never have peace, but as individual people with individual goals?

We might certainly have it.

* * *

 **A.N.** There's...a lot that happens this chapter. Hana meets Iruka, talks to her sensei, has a conversation with Danzo...and we get to see Dei-kun back!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I can't express how happy I am to see the feedback.

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~Tavina


	80. The Councilor's Apprentice Arc: Three

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Beta'd by UmbreonGurl, DrowsyIvy and aflowerydeath.**

* * *

"Oh, just look at you!" Cousin Kosha coos as she turns Dei-kun's face this way and that. "Such a cute little cousin you've got, Hana-chan! And the best part about it is that he's _my_ cute little cousin now too!" She's perceptive enough to know that technically welcoming Deidara in our clan district isn't exactly a _done_ thing — he's still a foreign shinobi — but she is nothing if not loyal, and the first thing an Inuzuka is loyal to is the pack.

Our family ties run deep, back into a more dangerous time when all family was to be kept tightly together. We'd lived on Mount Hoyoken once, in the time before Konoha, the eye of the storm in a raging warzone. And warzones are not kind to families who love deeply.

Deidara sends me a look that can only be interpreted as a cry for help, while Kiba giggles with Akamaru in a corner far away from Cousin Kosha's devious plans for catching, hugging, and squishing. He's thrilled today, far more so than normal. After all, Kosha's squishing tends to befall _him_ far more than the rest of us.

He's thrilled there's a new victim _and_ that he can call that victim Cousin Dei. Why my little brother doesn't bother to ask why we have a foreign cousin is beyond me.

"Cousin Hana, un!" He attempts to wiggle away from Kosha, but alas, when she sets her mind to something, mountains will move before she does. "I don't want to be squished by Leafy Ninja!"

I send him a look of vague commiseration. _Sorry Dei-kun, no one can help you now._

Cousin Kosha is my closest age-mate among my cousins, only two years my senior and formerly the youngest of the Inuzuka Girls.

Now though, I'm the baby of the family. Though, I suspect not for long. Soon Uncle Teiru's only daughter, Moji, will be old enough to join us, and we can all pat her on the head and pinch her cheek at given opportunities, call her one of our gang just as soon as she starts the Academy. She'll be one of us soon enough, the baby of our generation.

Cousin Kihaku appears from around the corner with a set of brushes and a pallet of what looks like...face paint. "To celebrate our newest family member, we have to stage an induction ceremony!" Ah, so we're going to give him fangs.

From her place sprawled out on the couch, Cousin Kotsu cackles. "Don't be so afraid, pup." She grins at Dei-kun, fangs flashing in afternoon light. "'Kiha's the one staging the events. If it were up to me, we'd make you eat a bug or something."

I...can tell she's only half joking. _Kotsu...that's no way to comfort anyone. All that does is make it worse._

Kiba makes a face. "But why would we make anyone eat a bug?" He tilts his head to one side, nose scrunched up in a way that is best described as adorable, and seemingly goes through several memories of himself eating a bug. "Bugs taste _nasty_." Okay that does it.

Kiba's definitely tried bug before and didn't like it.

I'll...have to keep this sticky past away from Mu-kun or someone's going to go through an existential crisis and it might be both Mu-kun _and_ Kiba. As far as I'm aware, it wouldn't end well...so best to pretend it never was and spare both my baby brother and my teammate that heartache.

Cousin Kotsu ruffles his hair. "That's the point, Kiba-kun." She singsongs. "Then we'll know he really, really means it."

Deidara finally wriggles free from Cousin Kosha's grip and sprints in my direction. "Your family is scary, Cousin Hana, un."

I prod his face slightly. "They're _your_ family too." Of course, he's not related to Cousin Kosha by blood in the slightest, but pack loyalty is pack loyalty.

 _I_ call him cousin, so they call him cousin as well.

"Now, now," Cousin Kosha grins, fanged and sharp and bubbly good cheer. "We can't make such a cute little cousin eat a bug, that wouldn't be nice!"

"No, alas," Cousin Kihaku presses the back of her hand to her forehead and swoons backwards dramatically. "We settle for face paints instead."

The six of us continue to chatter, trading banter in our conversations back and forth as Kihaku paints two bright red fangs onto Deidara's face and turns the mirror towards him for him to see her handiwork. "See, now you're an Inuzuka too, just like us."

He stares at the image of himself for a long time, mouth making an almost perfectly round o.

And maybe, for the first time in a long time, he feels like he belongs.

* * *

Kaa-san returns home, at mid-afternoon, sweeping into Uncle Kegawa's living room like she's been a welcome guest all her life, while we're in the middle of a rowdy game of cards that involves slamming hands over one another, ninja reflexes, and a healthy dose of high pain tolerance. No one's broken any fingers yet, and no one's bled yet, so I count that as a big win.

Maybe she always _was,_ and it had just been too long since we realized that we were. I have forgiven but still could not quite forget why it is that Cousin Kotsu has a burn scar down one side of her face.

There is still much we have to do to mend the division.

The blame for what a mess we'd made is shared, neither solely with one side or the other.

"Oh, there you are." Kaa-san leans over to ruffle Kiba's hair. He wiggles away in protest but seems to accept that messy hair is simply a fact of life for us. Or, well, he _does_ until Kaa-san stops messing up his hair.

"Kaa-san!" Kiba hastily attempts to rearrange his hair into some semblance of order.

He fails.

Dei-kun's eyes have grown round.

"And who might you be?" She asks, not quite welcoming, but also not quite _not._

A middle ground, if you will.

"Iwa no Deidara." Dei-kun freezes now that we've actually been confronted by an adult.

Before, it was just Kiba and I, and then our cousins, all of us lounging around and joking with each other, but Kaa-san is a shinobi, and a damned good one at that.

And I hadn't really thought to, well, _ask_ before I brought him home to prevent us from having a discussion about the explosion release in the middle of the street. The wind has ears here in a ninja village.

And only in the heart of the Inuzuka Grounds can I say that we are _safe_ exactly, for here we are surrounded by only people I'd trust with my life, my cousin's life, and all the lives I hold dear.

But the fact remains — I did not ask.

Thus, this is probably the first time Kaa-san even heard about his existence.

"Mmmm." Kaa-san hums.

In the pause that follows, Deidara hastily reaches into the front pocket of his jacket and pulls out several...photographs? "I wanted to ask if you knew who the picture boy was." He half shoves them in Kaa-san's direction. "You're Cousin Hana's Kaa?"

Kaa-san crouches down so that we are all eye level and carefully takes the photographs from his hands. "That I am," she says, a half smile on her face. "That I am." There's a tinge of pride in her voice as she continues. "I've got two pups to be proud of."

She frowns slightly as she leafs through the photographs, careful not to bend or smudge them.

I peer over her shoulder. There's a man and a woman in what looks like a wedding outfit...Dei-kun's parents perhaps. A picture of a much younger Dei-kun and what looks like his father who…

Looks strangely familiar, like Tou-san, but _not._ I remember what Tou-san looked like. Our house is still filled with photographs of him, and though I can't entirely describe the difference between Dei-kun's father and my own, their uncanny similarity does shock me.

Even so, I can tell the difference between them.

They are not the same. It's like looking at a negative echo, like two portraits from the same painter's hand, of the same lineage, but different brush strokes all the same.

And then at the very end, there's two small, nearly identical boys with their arms thrown over each other's shoulders, beaming at the camera.

It's on this picture that Kaa-san freezes. "Kai?" She frowns at the photograph she holds in her hands, turning it this way and that. "How old are the boys in this photograph?" She asks Dei-kun finally before she hands the rest of them back.

His nose scrunches as he thinks. "Is Tou." He says at last, pointing at the boy on the left. "And is Picture Boy, but I don't know his name."

"His name is Iwa no Kaito." Kaa-san says at last offering Deidara his photograph back. "His friends called him Kai." It's a concession.

Kaa-san does not lie to him and say she knows nothing of it. She does not because it is not our way, because the ties that bind are too close and too far, too strong and too frail all at once.

So, we are related then.

It's no longer just a thought because this, this speaks so much of someone Tou-san knew. He'd never mentioned he had family still, back in Iwa.

Close relatives by the uncanny similarity between Dei-kun's father and mine.

He'd never mentioned, but then, he'd never mentioned many things. This is just one more thing that he thought he had more time to tell us about, but never did. Just one more thing.

I put the thought away. Time enough to think of it later. Time enough.

I suppose my first thought of calling Dei-kun "cousin" must be correct.

"Is he—" Deidara frowns for a moment chewing on his bottom lip. "Is he _here?_ "

My heart suddenly jumps to my throat. _He doesn't know. He doesn't know that—_

It's been five years. Five long and painful years of memories that have grown slightly hazy around the edges. Five years and a red kite that fell apart with age in the meantime, whose pieces lie, even now in a box in the bottom of my closet. I can't bear to get rid of them, even though the pieces of broken wood and fading red paper have long outlasted their intended utility.

The year I turned four, Tou-san and I went out to the park to fly a red kite. The year after…

He doesn't know that he's too late.

I almost turn my face away. I don't want to see the moment when he realizes that we'll never really know, that he's lost yet another family member he never even got to meet. Sometimes, it's the little things that sting the most, like salted paper cuts that never had the chance to be full wounds.

I almost turn my face away.

But I don't. I don't because it isn't right to turn away from something just because I am uncomfortable.

I don't turn away, so I see the very moment Kaa-san tells him. "I'm sorry. He's been gone for five years."

I see the very moment he chokes, like all the wind's been knocked out of him.

And it hurts like losing Tou-san all over again.

* * *

I help Dei-kun scrub the face paint off when he finally has to leave sometime during the late afternoon. He seems a little bereft after, a little sad and unhappy, but we both know we're already pushing it.

He's been gone for hours now. It's a miracle that his temporary jounin sensei hasn't amassed a searching party or filed a complaint with the Tower.

Not...that I truly think anything would happen if they did. For one, it's not as if I've actually persuaded Dei-kun to defect from Iwa and come live with us by hiding him in one of our spare rooms in the district. And even if I did, I rather think that Konoha's administration would count that as a victory, dye his hair and pretend he's always been one of us. For another, he's the one who wandered off inside a foreign village, avoided his temporary sensei, and decided to follow a foreign shinobi into a clan compound.

And now I'm returning him, however much I loathe to do that.

I don't want to return him to a place where no one seems to give him a second thought, where he can just go missing for a few odd hours in a foreign village without ruckus. I don't want to return him to a place where no one loves him, where he has no family left.

But the fact remains, he is the Tsuchikage's student, and as much as I'd love to stash him in a backroom on the Inuzuka Grounds until the Chunin Exams are over, I know I cannot. I haven't the power.

I am small and young and _weak._ I have no power to rock the boat. And it is that thought that stings more than anything else. On this international Go board, I am nothing.

He and Kaa-san had looked through all the pictures we'd had in the house of Tou-san, just enough to confirm for him that Inuzuka Kaito existed, that for many years he was here, and that now he was gone.

He hadn't been down to the cemetery to see Tou-san's gravestone, but maybe that is for the best.

At least, the photographs wouldn't make him cry. Photographs are transient things, a snapshot of a moment in time, fleeting and without continuity.

A physical grave is far harsher a reality than the photograph of someone who has long left this mortal plane. Where Tou-san might be now, I can't bear to bring myself to ask. _I_ hadn't any time between this life and the last, but I know nothing about the measurement of a human life or the balance of souls.

Gods do walk this earth among men, but I hadn't thought to ask Okami-jiji what happens to us when we die, and I'm not sure that he'd answer that anyway. It doesn't seem like the sort of thing he'd be interested in explaining.

Dei-kun and I walk through the marketplace side by side, as I question him on what he will say to explain this all away. "Remember that the glasswares are on the south side of the market square."

"Uh-huh." He nods.

Had I been a person of more sense, I would've never invited him home to begin with. I should've growled at him in the street and told him to get away from me, if only for his own good. There is danger consorting with foreign shinobi, even more so when you call them cousin and sell them secret information about notable bloodlines.

 _Treason,_ a small voice whispers within me. _Traitors only end up dead._

I am no traitor to Konoha. I do not wish to die.

But I am Inuzuka Hana, and these considerations have never weighed heavily with me. I cannot change my own nature. It has followed me across two lifetimes, not even buried deep, despite memory failing, despite a change of worlds, despite leaving past lives behind.

I am no traitor to Konoha, but it is people that I love first and foremost.

First and foremost are the people that I love. Ideals and morals and standards to which respectable people are held to come after.

If I were born to any other clan, I might so easily become a traitor, because it is not buildings, the will of fire or Konoha that I love. I love people, all their faults and foibles, all their strengths and brilliance.

And so I did not chase Deidara away, and now I am returning him.

"Where have you been all day?"

As a member of the Military Police Force, I have the "authority" to escort foreign shinobi and enforce the law.

Nominally, that is. It works well enough for my purposes, so I'll take what I can get. I am small and young and weak and I do not have much power of my own, so I must use what I have to the full potential.

"He was wandering around in the market looking at glasswares, Jounin-san." I bow the requisite amount, and not one degree more. "I thought it best to return him before sometime untoward were to happen."

"Tch." The man turns away. "Don't go running off again, or I'm going to report you."

Dei-kun stares silently down at his feet.

I am not impressed. I am not impressed but I leave well alone.

I leave well alone, and it passes like ripples on the water.

* * *

The night after that, I pause over my papers down in the YRC Headquarters. The building is made of pine board nailed together into a structure that passes for a respectable building. It's so new that the walls are unpainted, and the joining and roof beams are still visible. There haven't been any doors put in yet beyond the front door, but we'd been too excited.

It's finally stable enough for us to use, so who were we to not move in with folding chairs and clipboards?

This space is _ours._ We'd built it, however crude it is. This is yet another step on the road to change. Just another physical sign that we could make a difference.

A committee of people without a single person over thirty could still make a change. The excitement tonight had been palpable, an electric current buzzing like the bare bulb swinging above us.

A building this new echoes differently, a little more hollow than a place well broken in.

But this is ours.

The meeting's concluded, but even as everyone else files out, Ito Fujio remains behind.

"Taicho, can I have a word?" He's leaning against the empty doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, eyes dark.

I'd kind of expected this, one of these days.

I just didn't think it would be so soon. _Do coworkers talk with each other about how much they get paid? Did he ask someone else, or did he just overhear other people talking about it?_

"Of course." I glance over at Kasuga, who's setting a few of the folded chairs against the wall. "Kasuga, can you wait outside for me?"

"Yeah, sure." He shoves his hands in his pockets, a clipboard thick with more notes under his arm, and slouches off, pushing past Ito who was still in the doorway without a word.

"Well?" I ask him. "What did we need to talk about?"

"Why am I getting paid more than the Saitos?" He taps his fingers against his arm. "I don't do anything more important than them."

On all accounts, _false._

Tamaki and Ruri might be important to the running of different committees, but Ito is only second to Kasuga in importance and hours put into this project.

I couldn't do this without him.

And if I remember his mother and younger sister, and that he is their only source of income, well, that's just between me and my heart.

I am only made of flesh and blood.

"So, you're telling me that if Kasuga can't find me, he'd go find Ruri or Tamaki before he looks for you?" I raise an eyebrow at him. "You sell yourself so short, Ito." I know that he is close with Kasuga, that the two of them are as thick as thieves, that Ito's family took Kasuga in when he had nowhere to go.

But I'd never admit why I pay him more. He's too proud to accept it, this _charity_ from someone who's more fortunate than him. And as long as we don't rip these masks of off our faces, we can co-exist in this uneasy ground where I am not showing favoritism, and he is not accepting charity. Some truths are only true if we speak of them; otherwise they're Schrodinger's truths, both there and not all at once.

"And that's enough for another two thousand ryo in my paycheck every month?" It covers more than his mother's medical bills at Konoha General.

Kasuga mentioned once that Ito-san is getting better, that Chisa-chan is at school once more, not the Academy, but civilian school.

It is in these little things that we remember what makes a difference.

It is in the little things. Change comes slowly, charts and numbers cannot map the road of progress, not like this.

It is in the little things. A girl can go to school once more.

A sick woman found a doctor.

A young man without purpose has one now.

For them at least, I've made a difference.

"I think you undervalue the work you do." Maybe I have too soft a heart, maybe I care too much and not enough all at once. "I think it's what you deserve."

And that, that is the truth.

I _do_ think it's what he deserves. Who asked him to worm his way into my heart? Who asked him to make a friend like me? Who asked him to do that?

As much as I care for the people of Konoha as a general concept, I care for _my_ people more.

"And why do you think that?" He's _giving._ I can taste it in the air. His arms are hanging loosely by his side, just a few more words, and he'll capitulate.

"Because without you, the YRC would be nothing more than a pipe dream built by two crazy kids, bound to crash and burn three steps into the process." Neither Kasuga nor I are well familiar with the burdens of adulthood.

I might've lived twenty-seven, nearly twenty-eight years, but it doesn't make me twenty-seven.

Being a shinobi still hasn't made me an adult.

I am grown for the number of years I've lived this life, but I've never had to carry the mantle of responsibility for others the way that Ito has.

If I misstep, there is always Kaa-san, or Sensei, or Chichi, or even Shishou to turn to.

If he missteps, there is no one to catch him on the freefall and the entire world to lose.

It's made him wiser than both Kasuga and I combined, and for that, that at the very least, I'd value him.

"That's a terribly shitty reason to pay me more." He's turned his face away, something rough in the way he almost tosses the words into the world between us.

"Well, I'm just your terribly shitty boss," I shrug. "You deserve it for being an ass, Ito."

He cracks a smile.

The masks between us remain in place.

* * *

It takes me until two days after Dei-kun arrives, but I am again, back at the Naka River, this time with a roll of trash bags in one hand and a bucket for clay in the other.

The river had been filthy the last time I was here, and it's still filthy this time.

Plastic shopping bags and metal cans litter the banks. Pollution spreading like oil. If I were any more prone to metaphor, I'd say it's indicative of the rot under the gleaming surface of this city.

Alas, whether or not there are cans in the river, the Konoha's got plenty of hatchets and bodies to bury.

I don't remember when the river became like this. Five years ago, the day after the Kyuubi attack, Kakashi had nearly rolled himself into a river whose waters were clear except for the red silt clinging to the bottom currents.

I can hardly believe this is the same river.

"I don't like it here." Ni casts large puppy eyes at me. "Why is it like this?"

The Triplets might like to shed dog hair everywhere, but that is only their nature. They still do turn up their noses and frown at uncleanliness.

"I don't know." I tell him. "I don't know at all." Was there some regulation broken? Some protocol not taken into account? Did the people of Konoha suddenly stop _caring_ about our surroundings? Were there just too many idle shinobi tossing waste into the water now that we no longer had a war to fight in?

I don't know.

Well, there's nothing for it. I set myself a purpose this afternoon, and I am going to accomplish it. This stretch of the river, at the very least, is getting cleaned today.

I shake open the first trash bag. It can't be worse than the manure pile Sensei made me dig through at age seven and a half.

It can't possibly be worse than the taste of blood in my mouth, or the rain of shredded flesh falling on me on a boat on Lake Toya.

It is not worse.

The sun is cool this time of year, getting further away as autumn starts to come to a close. A chilly breeze drifts past me as I pluck trash from the gritty silt of the Naka, squelching my way through the wet clay in my standard issue sandals.

My feet and ankles are filthy, stained red with clay enough that I look like I'd just stepped into a pool of congealed blood.

My hands look similarly bad.

I continue on.

I'm not paying attention, which is likely how the trouble begins. But pulling a plastic bag out of the water sends a jolt of stabbing pain through my hand. I drop it, blood already leaking out of the puncture wounds across my fingers and palm, mixing with the watery clay already stuck to my hands making them hard to see clearly.

But I know what they are.

Shuriken wounds.

I look back at the plastic bag still floating deceptively on the river water, and my eyes narrow.

Someone had wrapped a weapon designed to hurt in a piece of waste and threw it in the river for a _purpose._ Someone had intended to hurt whoever was going to clean up this river.

The wind that blows past me, tossing stray strands of hair this way and that, seems much colder than before. _Who would do this?_

 _And why?_

I have no good answers.

I whistle for the Triplets. They were grabbing these pieces of trash with their mouths before. Okami forbid there are more of these. With my other hand, I gingerly fish the offending bag out of the river for evidence purposes.

One, littering is a crime punishable by fine, and two, intentional harm and sabotage is likely another crime.

I'll have to take it to Chichi to see what he makes of it.

"Be more careful." I tell them when they gather around. "Some of these are traps." I show them the bag with the shuriken, clearly visible against the white plastic now out of the water.

"Hana hurt," Ichi growls. If dogs could wear a murder smile, he'd probably have one right now.

"We don't know whom to hunt for this yet." I tell him. "So, let's go to the hospital to clean up my hand before anything else."

They grumble but accept it as there's really not much else to do.

The bag's been in the water long enough to wash off all the scent the perpetrator left on it, and the stench of my own blood covers up whatever else might be there.

It'll take a more sensitive nose than mine to get to the bottom of this, and I know just the person to help me. I toss the entire contraption into the bucket I'd intended for clay and set course for Konoha General.

* * *

I wasn't born to a pack of hunters for nothing. After my wounds had been washed, disinfected and healed by a medic down at the hospital who was far too used to dirty bedraggled baby shinobi tracking mud into her waiting room and asking for a quick patch up of their training wounds, I knock on Cousin Shin's door.

He's Uncle Teiru's eldest son, but he and his girlfriend moved out into their own small cottage earlier this year. Of our generation, he and Cousin Kotsu are tied at second eldest, with only Cousin Ashi older than them.

Why Cousin Kotsu hasn't moved out yet is beyond me. It's Reiko who opens the door for me. "Hana-hime!" She leans back into the house. "Shin! Hana-hime's here!"

She'd been born an Inuzuka, though we are not particularly related beyond her relationship with Cousin Shin.

My tall and lanky cousin bounces to the door a moment later. "What's the matter, Hime-chan?" He asks, grin slowly sliding off his face when he takes in the stench of blood that still surrounds me and likely the frown on my face.

I hold up bucket with the offending plastic bag that had been hidden among the trash in the Naka River. "I need some help tracking down a person."

"A bad person," San growls. "A very bad person."

Cousin Shin takes another whiff of the air and steps aside to let me and the Triplets into the house. "Well, come on in." He lays a comforting hand on my shoulder, a slight hint of anger in his voice. "We'll get to the bottom of this Hime-chan."

He gestures for me to put the bucket on the coffee table, and gingerly reaches inside to pull out the bag and the shuriken.

With the evidence on the table, he leans forward to examine it. "Smells like river water," he mutters. "You fished it outta the Naka?" It's more an absent question than anything else.

He doesn't need me to confirm it.

"Yeah." I say, holding up my previously injured hand. "I cut myself on it while cleaning up trash."

"And everyone knows this ain't how you get rid of old broken shuriken." He taps his fingers on the glass table. Tap, tap, _tap._

Tap, tap. _Tap._

The grin on his face is feral. "Leave it here with me for a bit. I got some stuff I wanna check." He sniffs the entire thing again and unties the bag, pulling out the two broken shuriken in it. "Older make," he muses. "Ain't someone young livin' alone or they wouldn't have something with this stamp on it." He points at the smithy's seal on one of the four blades. Kobayashi, a famous smithy and weapons manufacturer in the Land of Iron. "Not to mention, Konoha's not bought curved bladed shuriken from the Kobayashi in the Land of Iron since just at the end of the second war."

He pieces together one of the shuriken.

Four wicked, curved blades around a hole in the center.

Tap. Tap. _Tap._

Cousin Shin isn't just a typical tracker, he also specializes in weapons identification and recovering old scents off of metal. In that way, he's slightly more methodical than my other cousins, a bit more inclined to science and analytics than jutsu.

"I see." I bow to his superior wisdom on this one. "But what does it mean when someone tosses this in the Naka like it's normal trash?"

"It means," he drawls, real slow, "that there's gonna be a murder on my hands."

I whack him on the shoulder. "Don't be so dramatic."

"Hime-chan." He leans back onto the couch, hands folded together behind his head. "Who said I was bein' dramatic?"

* * *

 **A.N.** In this chapter we get Dei + Kiba + The Inuzuka Girl Gang, Hana and the YRC, River Pollution, and Cousin Shin comes back around.

I've been busy moving and working recently, so updates have slowed quite a bit, but this train is still rolling, if but slowly.

I feel obligated to say that there's a Discord Server link on my profile if anyone wants to drop by to say hi or hear more frequent life updates or to talk fic, we're very friendly! (I also tend to talk about my plans for the future of this fic far more there, so if spoilers interest you, you'd be coming to the right place.)

That said, thank you so much to everyone who's reviewed, favorited and followed. We're closing in on the two year anniversary of this fic in less than a month, and I never thought it would be this well received. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much everyone. Let's greet year three with hope and expectation that I'll update more often.

~Tavina


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